Legend of Zelda: World's End
by Blades
Summary: Five Years after Ocarina. The world is now destroyed. Those who fought for good are slaves, while those who fought for evil have risen again. The War is over, save for ten who fight on against all odds.
1. Prologue

(I don't own these characters.  Just borrowing them.)

**The Legend of Zelda:**

**World's End**

**~ ~ ~**

**Prologue:**

            A shiver passed through the young woman as she knelt before the altar.  Her visible breath hung from her mouth as a few strands of her silky blonde hair tumbled down from her hood over her closed blue eyes.

            The temple was so open, so empty, so barren, and yet, whenever she came here, she felt as if she were suffocating.  The gray, dusty walls were beginning to slowly cover with moss, and the jewels that had briefly brought some life to the temple were returned to their owners throughout Hyrule.

            Still, Zelda, Princess of Hylians, felt it necessary to come here when time and duties permitted.  All had forgotten of the past war with Gannon, their memories slipping away as though it had all been a dream, and those who were once allies, often felt like enemies.

            The Gorons were feuding with the Zora because of flooding problems, the Gerudos continued to cause trouble throughout Hyrule, and, worst of all, monsters were beginning to flood through the hills and mountains back to the lands.  Each tribe blamed each other, but all looked to the Royal Family to take care of the problems.

            All these problems had encompassed the Princess so much, she barely had time to herself.  To escape, the Princess had worked her way past the guards to come here.  Doing so could get her into serious trouble, but the young woman could not help herself.  Ever since the young fairy boy came to her life, Zelda thirsted for adventure, whenever and wherever she could get it.  Besides, when everyone noticed she was gone, they knew she would be here.

            A draft came from the snow-frosted windows, sending shivers down her spine yet again, and bringing the Princess back to reality.  She lifted herself to her feet and walked around the altar to the engraving beyond.  The door was closed, now, and could not be opened without the three stones.  Zelda reached her hand out from under her cloak and pressed it to the cold, hard stone.

            "Are you still in there?" she whispered.  "Waiting to return back five years ago?"

            It had been five years, now, since the hero rode off on his horse to places unknown.  She had given him a gift, hoping one day he could return it to her.  But, she had not heard anything since he left.  Was he even alive?

            "_Zelda_!" a loud, harsh voice screeched out.

            The room was suddenly engulfed in a blue light, swallowing all within, and ice began to form across the walls.  Giant icicles jutted down from the ceiling, and ice shards shot out from the windows, directly at the young woman.

            Zelda zipped around, her cloak flailing around behind her, and raised her hands.  The shards slammed into the magic field surrounding her and shattered, scattering particles into the wall behind her.

            At the center of the temple, a human-like creature floated, surrounded by a blue halo of energy, and smiling at the Princess.  A golden triangle shined brightly on the back of her hand, and Zelda knew at once where she had seen the woman before.

            "Din?" Zelda gasped.

            "_I've come for you,"_ the goddess gently said, though her voice boomed through the room, shattering icicles and causing the Princess to fall to her knees. _"Time is not an element to be trifled with.  Hyrule must pay for what you have done."_

            Zelda looked up, the pain so intense that her eyes had filled up with water.  "No!" she screamed, pulling out a dagger and thrusting it forward.

            In an instant, the blue halo disappeared, and Din was replaced by a familiar face.  Impa, nurse and confidant to Zelda side-stepped the dagger and knocked it out of Zelda's hands.

            "What are you doing?" Impa yelled.  "Zelda?"

            The princess looked up at Impa and gasped.  "Impa?" she asked, looking around the room in disbelief.  The room was no different than it had been only moments earlier.

            "Zelda, what happened?" Impa asked, letting go of Zelda's arm and stepping away.  "Why did you attack me?"

            "Din?" Zelda asked.  "The goddess, Din, was here.  She said we must pay for using time."

            "I…I saw no-one," Impa replied after a moment.  "I was yelling for you for a minute, but you were lost in your own thoughts."

            Zelda looked up at Impa's eyes.  "How can that be?" she asked.  "I was attacked.  The…the goddess came after me!"

            Impa looked down at the young woman's eyes and took her hand.  "Come with me, Princess.  I think, maybe you've worked too hard, lately.  Too much stress, perhaps?"

            "No!" Zelda yelled.  "She was right here!  I'm not seeing things, she was really here!"

            Impa looked around the room for a moment, trying to understand what the young princess was yelling.  "Perhaps…perhaps we should talk with the potions witches, or even the priests to see if someone has cast a spell.  Maybe…maybe something happened, and I couldn't see it."

            Zelda, tears falling down her cheeks, looked up.  "You have to believe me, I really saw her."

            "I do," Impa whispered, looking out across the temple.  "It wouldn't be the first time something strange has happened around here.  Let us go back before the blizzard outside traps us in here."

~

(more to come, I just wanted to put this out as a taste.)


	2. Link's Awakening

Chapter 1:

~** Link's Awakening ~**

Somehow, it felt familiar.  The sweltering heat was so intense, the rocky wall not far away seemed to bend backwards and forwards.  Sweat glistened down the young Hylian's face and dripped down onto his red tunic, the only thing allowing him to still breathe in this cave.

            A river of molten lava surrounded the stony landing, and all exits had been sealed. Above, the blue sky looked down from the volcanic opening at the young man as he carefully hid behind the thick rock, his large shield wedged in next to the opening, and the decorations slowly melting from the heated blasts they had sustained.

            "Link?" a husky, growling voice gurgled from the nearby rocks.  "Now?"

            Link shook his head and put his finger to his lips to quiet the young rock creature.  A large egg was carefully tucked into a huge, padded sack in the Goron's arms, and though he was as gentle as could be, the Goron was nervous.

            Link looked over his shield just enough to see the center of the room.

            The great red Dragon continued to thrash about, blasting fireballs in all directions and stamping the boulders deep into the ground.  Its enormous wings flailed around, slamming into the sides of the cave walls and its feet continued to claw at the ropes that had trapped it to the walls.

            Link looked back at the young Goron.  "One more should do it, I think, then we'll be very careful, agreed, Rook?"

            Rook nodded, trusting the young warrior, then tucked in close behind the boulder to protect the egg a little better.

            Link carefully tied the rope to the end of two arrows and pulled the feathers off one side of each of the arrows.  He pulled his bow out and slowly stood up over the shield and took aim with both arrows.  The Hylian released the arrows, and each sliced through the air, sticking into the wall in the distance.  The rope that had attached the two arrows caught the neck of the dragon and pulled his head up so that he could not breathe fire down on the plateau.  

            "Alright," Link whispered as he lifted his shield from the rocks.  "I think we can return it safely."

            Rook nodded and stood up, nervously looking over to the thrashing dragon.  "Do you think those ropes will hold it?"

            "Not for long, so let's hurry as quickly as we can," Link answered as he helped carry the egg.  The gold plated gloves he wore increased his strength enough to help carry the enormous egg.

            The two worked together as they worked their way across the large opening to the lava pit where three other large eggs rested.  When the dragon spotted the egg, it immediately stopped thrashing about and began watching the two carefully with its big, yellow and black cat eyes.

            "Do you think she knows we're returning the egg?" Rook asked.  "Does she know we're not the ones who took it?"

            "I don't think she cares," Link answered.  "All she knows is that it is her egg, and it's in danger."

            "All the more reason to kill her," a voice called out from behind Link.  "And, it would seem, you have done most of the work for me."

            Link stopped and looked over his shoulder at the familiar voice.  Standing in the middle of the room, sword drawn, stood a gray bearded man, smiling at the ancient dragon.  He wore the black plated armor and silver mail of a Knight of Uruk, though he was more than a mere Knight.

            "By the Gods, no, Bishop!" Link yelled.  "This Dragon has done nothing more than try to get its egg back!  It does not deserve to be destroyed!"

            The warrior laughed heartily at the young Hylian.  "He is a dragon, young Link, and by definition, an evil entity.  We are heroes, it is our job to destroy evil entities!"

            "This isn't an evil entity, though," cried Rook.  "It is the protector of our people.  Thieves took its egg, that is why it attacked the villages!"

            "If we put the egg back, it will calm down!" Link yelled.

            "Until when, Elf?" Bishop asked.  "What about when its babies are born, do you think they will just fly off and find another home where they will protect other Gorons?  They will wipe out all humans until they think their home is safe, young fool.  We can stop all the destruction now."

            Before Link could answer, one of the ropes snapped, and the dragon lunged forward, stretching the other ropes to the breaking point.  Bishop turned and pulled his red glowing sword and raised his black shield.

            Rook turned and rushed forward towards the Knight to stop him, leaving Link with the egg, which he almost dropped completely.  

            "You fool, he will break free!" Bishop yelled, swinging his sword and knocking the Goron away.  The rocky skin of the young creature chipped and the Goron let out a cry.

            Link set down the egg just as the last ropes broke free and the dragon lowered its head, looking at the three with its large, yellow eyes.  The Dragon roared, shaking the entire cavern, and thrust forward, swinging its enormous wings about.

            The dragon shot a fireball at Bishop, which the Knight barely managed to avoid by jumping away and covering himself with his shield.

            Link turned to move the egg, but before he could, the dragon picked it up with its talons and placed it in the nest with the others.  The dragon's spiky tail swung across the floor and slammed into Link, tossing him through the air and into the nearby boulders.

            "You see, you fool, the dragons care not for us!" Bishop yelled as he pulled his pulled his spear out and readied it to charge.

            "You will never know, if you kill it!" Rook yelled, rolling forward as he tucked into a ball.  The huge boulder of a creature slammed into Bishop's shield, though the Knight rolled with the impact and barely felt anything.  He swung around and readied his spear to hit the Goron with it, but a chain wrapped around his ankles.

            Bishop looked down at the chains that had wrapped around, then followed them to their source, a small hookshot held by Link.  "You'll not hurt the dragon, Bishop!" Link cried, yanking on the hookshot.

            The chains snapped the Knight to the ground and thrust him towards the Hylian at an incredible speed.  However, before the Knight reached Link, the dragon thrust forward and stomped down on the chain, snapping it in two.

            "No!" Rook cried as the dragon turned and looked down at the black knight.  The scales behind its wing-like ears began to swell up as they did when it was about to fire, and the dragon slowly opened its mouth.

            Link shot forward, leaping off the dragon's foot and landing in between Bishop and the Dragon, his shield raised.

            The dragon's flames blasted down onto the two warriors, seemingly engulfing the two in flames.  When the fires stopped, Link jumped away, carrying Bishop's unconscious body.  The dragon stepped forward, firing a shot of fire, but Link dodged it.  Again, and again, the dragon chased the two around the plateau.

            Link was out of ideas as the dragon darted around the two, moving like a fast snake, almost trapping the two.  Suddenly, a chain shot out across the path, and Link barely avoided tripping on it.  Rook had fired the hookshot into the boulders, and though Link had avoided it, the dragon did not.

            The Dragon's feet caught the chain, and it's massive head slammed down on the ground, its body rolling over, causing the very earth to shake and tremble.

            Link fell to the ground with the quakes, losing hold of Bishop's body.  When Link looked up, however, Bishop struck him hard across his face with the butt of his spear.  

"Now!" the Knight shouted into the air.

A net shot down from the mouth of the cave and encompassed the massive dragon, and keeping it pinned to the ground, the edges of the netting pinned in the rocks.

The Knight jumped to the air, his cloak waving behind him as he leapt to the top of the soft underbelly of the dragon, and thrust his spear deep into the beast.

Rook, tears at the corner of his eyes helped Link to his feet.  "No…I…how could he?"

Link looked up at the Knight and wiped away the blood on his lip with his sleeve.  "You fool!" Link screamed.  "Will you now protect these lands?  Will you be the one who keeps evils from taking control?"

The Knight looked down and laughed.  "You are so naïve, young Link," Bishop answered.  "Do you really think anything besides man has the power to protect the lands?  Do you honestly believe something like a dragon could possibly keep evil away?"

"I believe something as small as a tree has the power to protect a people," Link answered.  "But when they don't respect…when they don't honor that which protects them, then evil finds its way to their hearts."

"That's nothing more than rubbish," Bishop answered.

"Surely, a warrior such as yourself knows that only a people willing to fight deserve freedom from evil?" a soft voice called from the distance.  A girl, not much younger than Link walked forward from the light of the lava to the bright sunlight above.  Her hair was purple, matching her caring eyes, and her soft yellow cloak hid well the harsh armor she wore underneath.

"Do you really believe that destroying this dragon will free the people from the evils of this land, Sakura?" Link asked.

"Maybe it is cynical to believe so, but yes," Sakura answered.  "Now, they will, if they must, fight for themselves, and only then will evil truly be defeated."

"My Squire is often hopeful, and naïve, like yourself," Bishop interrupted.  "But, she is always helpful in a pinch."

"What will we do, now, Link?" Rook asked, looking carefully at the young man.

"I'm afraid there is nothing we can do," Link answered, biting his lip hard.  The scowl across his face was enough to send the fiercest of warriors hiding.  "They've committed crimes against nature, not crimes of humanity.  They will answer in nature's own way."

"We will answer, my young friend by being rich from the teeth and hide of this beast!" Bishop laughed.  "We will answer by having our names sung in the hills far away as great heroes.  We will answer…by living!"

"_Why do you yearn to live_?" a voice called out.  "_Knowing that Death is inevitable_?"

Link turned away from the body of the dragon and looked up to a bright green glowing woman, floating in the air at the mouth of the volcano.  

"Farore?" Link asked, shielding his eyes from the bright green light.

Bishop quickly spun around and pulled out his bow, firing an arrow quickly at the goddess floating in the air.  The arrow passed through her as though she wasn't even there.

"_The hero of time, lost in the world you have become_," Farore continued.  "_Lost in spirit and lost in thought.  I ask again, why do you yearn to live, knowing that death is inevitable_?"

Link looked at Rook, who shrugged.  "I know not the answer," the goron whispered.

"I…I don't know," Link answered.  "I've never really thought about it.  You…you gave us life…don't you know?"

The goddess smiled.  "_You simply wander from land to land.  You know not why you do what you do, but you know you must help those in trouble.  What if, we have wondered, the source of evil in the world were he who chooses to rid the world of evil_?"

"What?" Link asked.  "I…I don't understand."

"_What if…you, the Hero of Time, were the source of the evil that plagues our lands_?" Farore asked.  "_Would your own life hold value_?"

"Why are you asking?" Rook yelled.  "What do you want with us?"

Farore floated down until she was almost face to face with Link, the others looking on with fear.  "_A price must be paid for all that was done, Hero of Time_," Farore said.  "_Hyrule will see evil and destruction unlike any that Gannon could ever produce.  Time is not an element to be trifled with_."

"Why?" Link asked.  "We only tried to stop Gannon from destroying all we held dear.  We were trying to stop evil."

"_At any cost?_" Farore asked.  "_Time has become forever entangled.  Evils that once bothered none now roam the world, searching out civilizations to destroy.  Now, it is time to take back the gifts we goddesses have given to you, before all is lost.  If you wish to stop it all, then you will find yourself at war with us.  You will become, yourselves, entities of evil."_

Link lowered his sword and shield, speechless.  

Farore, smiling, floated away and vanished in a bright flash of light.

"Link?" Rook asked, looking at his friend.  "Link, what is she talking about?  What are you going to do?"

Link looked to his friend.  "Because of me?" he asked.  "Because of us?  I…I must go…to…to Hyrule."

"What of the dragon?" Rook asked.  "Who will protect us, now?"

Link looked to his friend.  "I don't know, Rook.  You will have to fight, for now, I am needed elsewhere, I think.  I am sorry, but…if I understand Farore right, there may not be much time, and if I stay here, then all will be lost anyway."

"Link?" Sakura asked, looking down at the Hylian.  "What was that?  What is going on?"

Link didn't answer.  He reached down to his pouch and pulled out a blue instrument.  He looked up to the skies, searching his memory for old songs few remembered.  Slowly, he brought the ocarina up to his mouth and played the notes carefully.

Gold sparkles of magic began to circle around the young elf as his body was swept up and carried away from the Volcano.

"Link?" Sakura called out. "Where has he gone, Rook?"

"Far away, I think," Rook called out with his gurgling voice.  "What shall we do, now?"

"Now," Bishop laughed.  "Now, we shall enjoy the money that comes from this dragon, then we will go to this… this Hyrule place.  There, we can continue to be the heroes we are.  We should be treated like the gods if we stop this 'end of the world,' nonsense."

Bishop turned and began working on the dragon's hide as the young Goron began to roll away, tears in his eyes, toward his home.  Sakura continued to look up to the blue sky above, unsure what was passing through her mind, and unsure what was to come.

~ ~ ~

            **Hyrule**

            "How is she?" the man cried.  "Is she alright?  Did everything go okay?"

            The midwife was flushed, the look of shock spread across her face.  Her cheeks were blushed, and sweat rolled down the side of her face.  "Where is the Priest?" she asked, looking at the father.

            "The Priest?" the man asked.  "Why do we need the Priest?  Is my baby going to be okay?  What is wrong?  It's not going to be some sort of demon, is it?"

            The midwife wiped the sweat from her forehead and sat down.  "Your wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Koine," she answered.  "No, it is not some sort of demon.  On the contrary, she's an angel.  Though…I fear what her birth may mean."

            "What?" Koine asked.  "Can I see her?"

            "Yes, go," the midwife answered.  Koine rushed past and joined his wife and newborn daughter in the bedroom.  "You," she said to the man standing at the door.  "You're Koine's brother, correct?  Go to the priest at the chapel in the castle.  Tell him about your niece.  Tell him she was born with Red hair, and has the mark.  The mark of the Triforce on her arm."

            "The mark of the Triforce?" the brother asked.  "Wh…why?  What does this mean?"

            "It means she's the one," the midwife answered.  "It means the greatest wars of all are about to begin."

More to come.  :)


	3. A Chill Through the Lands

Chapter 2

~ **A Chill Through the Lands ~**

            "May your rest be peaceful, Princess," Impa whispered as she slid the washcloth along the young woman's warm forehead.  For hours, now, Zelda had thrown her sheets about, letting out loud screams of agony as her nightmares tore at her mind.  Impa had slid a potion down her throat to ease the dreams, fearing the Princess may hurt herself.

            "Has she calmed?" Rauru the sage of the Temple of Light asked, standing calmly in the moonlight that arched down from the window.  "I could feel her anguish even through the barriers of time within the temple of the sages."

            Impa nodded slowly.  

            "I hope she has the strength of mind and soul that she has shown in the past, Sage of the Shadow Temple," Rauru spoke, not turning away from the window.  "Trying days are ahead.  Even you and I cannot give our allegiance to her if what she says is true."

            "It pains my heart to hear such words," Impa said slowly.  "Why must she pay for our trespasses?"

            Rauru let out a long, slow sigh.  "We knew not the ramifications of what we were doing.  It is our foolishness, but she will be strong enough to fight.  Even if she cannot win, it will not mean her end, or our own, Sage."

            "But, she will not be alone, will she?" Impa asked.  

            "That, I do not know," Rauru answered.  "Only time will tell, I suppose."

            Impa pulled the quilt tightly around the Princess and kissed her forehead, as a mother would to her own daughter.  "Sleep well, and stay strong."

            "We must hurry, Sage, before the Triforce finds us here," Rauru whispered.  "It has already set into motion the events that are to come."

            Impa walked to the window and looked out at the snowy landscape before her. "A chill runs through the lands unlike any I have ever before felt.  Evil surrounds us, and yet, I cannot tell if we are a part of the evil or standing against it."

            "Time has shown, the Triforce, for better or for worse, knows what it is doing.  We must follow it and learn from it.  Let us go."

            As light engulfed Rauru's body, Impa looked back one last time at the sleeping Princess.  Fighting back the tears, the warrior put her hand to her heart and allowed the purple light to engulf her and transport her away.

~

            Deep crimson skies filled the horizon over the now snow-swept deserts of the haunted wastelands in the western-most reaches of the Hylian Kingdom.  Where once a great, never-ending sandstorm blew, the cold, crisp air brought peace and serenity.

            Link looked out over the vast wastelands, the snows reaching out to the horizon in all directions save one.  The sun, only just beginning to peep over the horizon to the east looked over the gates of the Gerudo fortress, now visible thanks to the ceased winds of the wastelands.

            The young warrior pulled his brown cloak tightly around his body, desperately trying to keep the chill of the strong winds out.  Strands of his blonde hair caught the breeze and blew down into his eyes, and the hood from his cloak didn't want to stay up as the young Hylian stood next to one of the stone pillars of the Desert Colossus.

            "What evil has spread to these lands?" Link whispered to himself.

            "The evil of man…of War," a high screeching sound called out from above.  "For one who has traveled the world, as well as time itself, I should think you would now be used to seeing familiar places in unfamiliar conditions."

            The startled Link drew his sword at the first words and spun around, ready to strike.  He held his sword at the sight of an enormous owl, precariously perched upon the top of the pillar.  "Kaepora Gaebora?" Link asked.

            "Ho, ho, hooo!" the owl laughed.  "Believed long, have I, that time, run properly, would have taken your memories of my face and my name.  It brings me no small pleasure that you have remembered it all!"

            "Only barely," Link muttered, sliding his sword back into the sheath on his back.  "You're the first of any talking owl I've run across in my lifetime."

            "And you, sir, are quite the surprise, indeed, ho, ho, hooo!" Gaebora responded.  "The Hero of Time, returned to the lands he called home not so long ago!  And at the time he is most needed, indeed."

            "I did not simply choose to come here," Link responded, his warm breath carried away in the air.  "I was summoned."

            "Of course, my friend," Gaebora answered.  "But, then, why did you come to here, when your Ocarina is capable of taking you so many places?"

            "The _Requiem of Spirit_ is the only song from Hyrule I could remember," Link answered, as he stroked the side of his pocket, making sure his old, beaten up Ocarina was still there.  "Through the years I've had to learn so many other songs to help me in my travels, that many have long been forgotten.  Why are you here, though, Gaebora?"

            Gaebora laughed.  "I had hoped that the deserts would be unaffected by the winter's air that comes from Death Mountain.  My wings, nay, even my very heart are chilled from this cold air.  I'm afraid I will have to leave Hyrule and find warmth in other regions of the world.  Besides, I am not needed for what is to come."

            "For what is to come?" Link asked.  "The Goddess Farore spoke to me…mentioned the destruction to come.  What was she talking about?  And what did you mean earlier by 'War?"

            "Ho, ho, hooo!" the owl responded.  "Why, Link, I do not really know what to tell you.  You were not really to play any part of the events that are to transpire!  The war between the Zora and the Gorons is supposed to be the trial period for Princess Zelda, not for you.  I know not why the Goddesses would speak to you."

            "Then, it would seem, more is transpiring than even you know of, Kaepora Gaebora," Link responded.  "I must go to the castle, and talk with Zelda.  She will deal with the wars, but I must find out about the Goddesses."

            "I caution you, Hero of Time," Gaebora responded, "She is not the same Zelda you knew from your memories of the battles with Gannon.  This is a different timeline, one in which she was not trained to hide and fight as Sheik.  The sight of you may not be an entirely welcome one to those at the castle."

            "I have been gone for some time," Link said carefully.  "I don't intend to stay long, and it will simply have to be made clear."

            "Well, then, my friend, good journey, and the goddesses bless," Gaebora said as he flapped his powerful wings and lifted to the air.  "This time, you will have no guidance, no special weapons, and no puzzles.  You will simply have to fight with strength of mind, heart, and soul."

            The young Hylian waved to the owl as it flew off and headed south, then pulled his hood back up over his head.  The searing cold bit harshly at his face as he turned into the wind to walk to the Gerudo Fortress.  He was not worried about becoming lost, for the posts were clearly marked, and easily found, now, but, doubt began to etch at his mind:  Why was he here?  Had Farore's warning been nothing more than a trick to draw Link away from where he was needed elsewhere?  Would the Goddesses really try to destroy all in this world?

            Link did not have much time to think, however, as, when he reached the fourth post, the snows began to shift about, and the earth began to tremble.

            The white snow piled and flowed out from a point not far from the colossus and the tan sands poured out over the top of the snow as something began to rise from under the grounds.

            An arm, longer and larger than the mountainous colossus itself shot out from the hole in the earth and reached down to the ground.  It was smooth and sharp, apparently made entirely of ice.  The second arm reached out and slammed into the snows, as well, and the spiky hands stabbed into the ground, the arms pulling the creature out from the depths it came.  

            Spikes ran up its arms and down its back, and the long, sharp nose of the creature was horned with icicles as large as mountains.  The creature was similar to a giant, icy Stalchild, except for the fire that came from its eyes.

            Link, barely an ant to the size of this creature slowly pulled his sword and shield from his cloak, and looked out of the corner of his eyes for a place to escape to.

            The Ice Demon looked down at the young warrior and laughed.

            _"Your end is now, Hero of Time."_

Link sharpened his eyes and smiled.

~

            "You're late."

            Zelda froze at these words.  She had tried to sneak down the stairs and into her chair at the right side of the King without notice, but it was all to no avail.

            "I am…sorry, my lord," Zelda answered with a small bow.  All eyes were now on her as she looked up to her father.  "I have…have not been well of late."

            "Your health does not concern me, nor does it concern the Kingdom," the King answered.  "Do you think the Zora or the Gorons will simply stop fighting because their Queen is sick?"

            "No, father, Impa simply did not w—"

            "Do not blame your servants," the King answered.  "If they do not perform their duties, then dispose of them, but do not blame them for your problems."

            "Y—yes, father," Zelda answered as she walked, her eyes lowered, to her throne.  "I am…I am sorry."

            Whispers filled the air of the throne room.  Zora, Gorons, and Hylians filled the room, each looking at the Princess with interest and all seemed to be talking about her.

            "Order, now!" the Chancellor of Court called out.  "We will have Order!"

            "Order?" the Zora Ambassador called out.  "How can Order be obtained in the Kingdom, if you cannot even keep it here?"

            "If you gave the King a chance to bring order, rather than blabbing aloud, maybe they could bring order to the Kingdom!" the Goron Ambassador shouted over the melee of voices.

            "I will have silence!" the King shouted, slamming his staff into the ground.  A flash of lightning blasted out the end of the staff and hit the ceiling causing part of the marble top to crash to the ground.  The room fell silent.

            Zelda reached for her temple instinctively, an old pain suddenly flaring up.  The memories of that staff were not fond for the young girl.

            "Very well, now," the King called out.  "Hyrule will not side with either Kingdom!  We will no longer tolerate your wars spilling out into our lands!  End the snows and the ice storms, and the Zora will dry the mountainous regions, or we will declare war on _both_ sides!"

            "A threat you cannot carry out," the Zora yelled.  "Your own people are not certain whether or not to trust you!"

            "My own people?" the King laughed.  "I am afraid you are quite mistaken, Rine, my people respect their King, and they will go to war if I ask them to!"

            "What of the child?" the Goron asked.  "The one?  Do you think they will simply forget the prophecies?  Do you believe they will follow a King that they know is destined to fall?"

            The King looked at his advisors, none of which had spoken of a child that morning.  "What do you speak?" the King asked.  "What child has been born?"

            A small laughter filled the hall.  "The King knows not even what the rumors of his people are?" Rine asked.  "A child was born last night.  She had the mark of the Triforce upon her arm.  She is the child of the prophecies."

            Zelda looked to her father, unsure of what the group was talking about.  His face was bright red with anger.

            "This is all rubbish," the King answered.  "There is no child that will overthrow us, the people love us!  If I call them to war, then they will rally around me!  Because of this news, however, the court must adjourn so we may discuss planning!  Advisors, dukes, meet me in my chambers!"

            "What prophecies do they speak of, Duggan?" Zelda asked, standing and looking to the old man next to her throne.  

            Duggan smiled and patted the Princess's hand.  "Tis nothing to worry about, my child.  These prophecies are always overblown.  Come, we must meet in the chambers."

            Zelda looked out at the throne room as the Zora and Gorons turned to speak to their own peoples.  "I hope you're right," she whispered.  "We don't need any more problems, Duggan."

~

            The demon thrust its clenched fists straight down at the warrior, trying to finish him off in one shot.  Link flipped backwards, almost losing his balance in the snow, then darted forward, jumping to the top of the beast's hands

            Link reached back with his sword, another 'legendary' blade from a distant land he had used to kill a great demon that had tried to kill the Empress of those lands.  With all the strength he could muster, he slammed the blade down into the icy fingers of the creature, cutting off two of the fingers of the beast.

            Shards of ice fell with Link to the snow below, two almost cutting into him.

            The beast laughed as it held up its hand.  Two new fingers grew in place of the missing digits.

            _"You can hack away all winter long, Hero, but you will find that I am not so easily defeated."_

            The creature clenched its fists, shooting icicles out of its knuckles straight down at the young Hylian.  Link stuck his back leg hard into the ground, raised his shield and withstood the onslaught of shards.

            "_Think, think!"_ Link screamed inside his head.  He reached down into his pouches, trying to find any leftover items he could use.  His fingers pulled out two heavy bombs, all he had left besides three arrows.

            The creature took two large steps around the small man, violently shaking the ground as he moved.  The fire in his eyes had grown stronger, and he reached back with his large arms, readying himself to punch down on the little creature.

            Link lit the two bombs and threw them across the snow at the demon's legs.  They blew before it threw its punch, shattering both legs of the creature and sending it crashing to the ground below.

            The snow for miles around jumped into the air, re-shifting the wind-drifts and causing tremors that could be felt throughout the kingdom.  Link darted forward after picking himself up and pulled out a small diamond with an orange flame within.

            Already, even as Link ran across the icy back of the enormous demon, the legs were re-growing, icy shards jutting out from the hips of the massive creature.  Link reached up and slammed his fist down, the magic of the diamond vial blasting heat out in every direction.  Din's Fire melted the ice in a huge sphere, instantly evaporating the ice to water all around the young Hylian.  However, instead of destroying the beast, a wave of fire belted out from the heart of the creature and exploded, sending parts of the demon everywhere, as well as shooting Link's body across the snows, landing hard near what once was the river of sand.

            Link looked up as icy shards began shooting into the air.  Already, the creature was pulling itself back together.  The young Hylian wiped away the blood from a cut by his eye with his sleeve and painfully pulled himself up.  His sword was gone, his shield had cracked, and nothing left but three arrows with which to take down and enemy he knew not what weakness it had, if it had any at all.

            Link turned and looked at a podium, not far away, from which two blazing purple fires roared.  The warrior pulled his bow from his back and rushed across the once shifting river of sand to the podium, and idea racing through his mind.

~

            "Long, have the Oracles and Sages of past talked of a child who will lead Hyrule to an age of peace unknown in history," the Chancellor began, reading from his texts.  His eyepiece made his right eye look way too big for his head, and it continued to cover with frost from the sheer cold of the room.  "A golden age will come, as the evils of all lands, the world over will be destroyed in the great wars that will see the fall of Kingdoms and the rise of Heros.  The Goddesses themselves will play hands in bringing true law to the world, letting those they deem worthy and just live and enjoy the peace of the realms, while the infidels, they will sacrifice."

            Zelda looked up from the floor of the chamber, across the long room to the Chancellor. Flowers still hung from the ceiling, and the soft smell of their essence filled the room, despite the frigid temperatures.

            "They believe this child has been born?" the King asked.  "Why?  Why now?"

            "A child was born last night with the mark of the Triforce upon her arm," one of the advisors announced.  "There were no doubts from the priests.  She is the chosen child."

            "Now would be a sensible time, my lord," another advisor spoke.  "Wars are beginning to wear away at the lands.  Ever since the Gerudo declared war on the Zora four years ago, the lands have yet to find peace.  One nation or another has been at war, and word from the outside realms is, no matter how much the people of the world fight, more evil continues to swell in."

            "But we are so close," the King answered.  "We have almost found peace between the peoples, if only we could end the wars between the Zora and the Gorons.  Can we not stop this from happening?  Can we delay it?"

            "Should we?" the Princess found herself calling out.  Quickly her hand covered her mouth and she looked away from the furious face of her father to the ground, once again.

            "Perhaps, my lord, if I may, the Princess may well be right," Duggan spoke up.  "This girl will lead us to a golden age.  This does not mean she will take over.  If we protect her, even help her, perhaps we will be among the just."

            "And let the hands of fate decide, when you, the most powerful King in all of the lands of the planet can simply decide your own fate?" a harsh, older voice called out.

            Zelda looked up to the doorway, where, standing tall and smiling broadly, a gray-bearded, black-armored Knight stood, wrapped in his gray cloak.  

            "Who are you, and what do you think you are doing in my chambers?" the King demanded.

            "Excuse me, my lord, for my name is Bishop," the tall man said with a bow.  "And, you need not fear, for I will do you no harm.  Would I want you dead, you already would be, but I am a hero.  Here to save the world from the destruction of these so called 'Goddesses."

            "And, my dear Bishop," the King responded, "As a hero, what would you do?"

            "Simple, my lord," Bishop answered.  "The child is a soldier of the 'Goddesses.'  She, like any enemy soldier, must be hunted down and destroyed.  If she is destroyed, then how can she lead this world into an age without the Hylian King?"

            The King, to Zelda's horror, smiled.  "Please, good Sir Bishop, have a seat at the table, I would like to talk with you some more."

~

            Link limped up the stairs, the snows beginning to pick up as the demon flailed its arms about, causing great winds about the wastelands.  Icy shards flung from its body in every direction as the creature looked in vain for the young Hylian.

            The warm cloak that had covered his worn body was lost in the winds, and all his weapons were useless, save his bow and three small arrows.  The cold was beginning to seep through his tunic and white, inner clothing, and his fingers were becoming numb.  

            "The goddesses, if on my side you be, hear my voice now, and guide my strength today," the warrior whispered as he pulled himself painfully to the top of the pillar.  The roaring fires on top were not full of heat, just as Link had figured, but were fires of ice, held by magic from an unknown source.

            "My sword is lost, my shield is broken, though my will is neither, for my aim will be true with you by my side," Link continued, his voice almost sounding as though he chanting.

            Link set the arrow in the string and pulled back as he sat down, one leg tucked under his body and aimed through the fire at the creature.  His numb fingers and fading sight made the task difficult, but the Hylian knew that he could not miss his first shot.

            "Guide my arrow," he whispered, and let go of the string.

            The arrow sailed through the air, the head ablaze with the purple fires of the podium through which they had passed, across the fields and struck dead center in the left eye of the great ice demon.

            The creature roared in agony and flailed its arms about, ice ripping into the desert as the purple fire turned the fiery red eye to ice, and putting out its sight.

            Link smiled, though he hurried with the next arrow, for, he knew he had given away his position with the shot.  He pulled back on the string as the Demon turned and began rushing towards the podium, icicles flying through the air at the elf, and let the second arrow fly.

            The arrow was swatted away in mid air by the demon, knowing what Link was trying to do, and in three large steps, the creature was standing over Link, looking down with its great fists raised, ready to strike.

            Link, in a move that defied sight, swung his remaining arrow through the purple fire and fired it from his bow directly into the remaining eye of the beast.

            The creature froze solid, forever stuck where he stood, a wooden arrow sticking out from the cube of ice where his eye once was.

            Link turned and began walking away from the beast, but the cold did what the demon could not.  The Hylian's eyes rolled back, and the young man fell from the podium to the snow, his unconscious body overtaken by the cold.

            Just before Link's eyes rolled up, he thought he had seen cloaked figures making their way through the snow towards the podium, but then, the cold was so overwhelming, even in sleep, he felt he must have been dreaming.

~

(More to come.  Merry Christmas!!!)


	4. Before the Storm

Chapter 3

**~ Before the Storm ~**

            Snow crunched under Link's feet as he walked.  Step by step, he continued through these lifeless, soulless trees, not sure what was drawing him forward.  No leaves clung to the branches, no animals lived within, and gray skies above gave the traveler misery within his heart.

            A soft, distant song echoed through the air, the source unknown, as though a small child far off could sing loud enough for the whole world to hear.  "_When the cold, cold wind blows, and the snow begins to fall, We must turn to each other, we must find warmth in our hearts,"_ the voice sang.

            Link listened to the words, trying to make sense of their desperation.  Something else, however, kept distracting him from the song.  It was…sobbing.  A child, crying.

            The traveler turned and walked past the dead trees deeper through the woods until he came across a small Kokiri child, crying into his arms.  A blue fairy sat upon his knees, whispering to the child, trying to cheer him, but the child wept on.

            "Hello?" Link called out, but the child did not respond.

            "Where are you, Link?" a voice called out from behind.  Link, startled, turned and reached for his sword, though he had none.  Another Kokiri child, this one a green-haired girl, stood in the open, smiling at the Hylian.

            "Saria?" Link asked, a smile coming to his lips.

            "Why are you here?" she asked

            "Here?" Link asked.  "I don't even know where I am."

            "Of course you do," Saria answered.

            "I've never been here in my life," Link responded.  "I would remember such a—a desolate place."

            "These woods were not always desolate," Saria answered.  "Once, they were a maze of wonder and excitement.  The adventures you and I used to have here with the Deku scrubs were always…imaginative."

            Link looked around in disbelief.  "Kokiri Forest?" he asked.  "But how?  Surely, if there had been trouble, you would have summoned me!  Zelda would have helped, or the Deku tree would have found a way—"

            "This is not how it is, now, Link," Saria responded.  "But how it will be, if things are to continue.  Life, here, is faltering.  The Goddesses cannot contain order with the evil that has spread through the world, and though an unseen force seems to be guiding them, the creators of the Triforce will end it all, and restore peace to the lands."

            Link looked at the lifeless trees.  "Why, then, do you show me this, Saria?"

            Saria looked to the ground, tears beginning to form at the edges of her eyes.  "Long, have I waited, to see you, Link.  Even to simply hear your voice, a message of some sort, and yet, now, though it may break my heart, my friend, I must ask you to leave."

            "Leave?" Link asked.

            "Stay out of the way," she whispered.

            "I was summoned here by the Goddess, Farore, Saria, and now you are telling me to leave?" Link asked.

            "The Goddesses have decided that you and Zelda must pay for using time to defeat Gannon," Saria answered.  "The two of you will be destroyed.  My heart, however, cannot bear the thought, and now, I ask you to leave, so that you may live yet longer."

            "But, what of Zelda?" Link asked.

            "Her life will be lost, but there is more beyond, Link," Saria answered.  "If you stay and fight, and you use all you have to help Zelda, this is what will happen to Kokiri forest.  The lands of Hyrule will be destroyed forever."

            "How—how do you know this?" Link asked.

            "What does your heart yearn for, my friend?" Saria asked.

            "What?"

            "Just answer."

            Link looked carefully at the young woman.  "Peace."

            "Then go, Link," Saria yelled.  "Go and find it! Go and find whoever you can to share your peace with and let Hyrule be!"

            "No!" the crying boy shouted from behind.  Link spun around, and to his surprise, found a younger version of himself facing them.  His fists were clenched, tear streaks on his face, and his teeth clenched.  "Peace will not be had, not here, not now, if we simply let the goddesses have their way!  This is our land, for we have fought for it!  And, we will not be punished for doing all we could to protect it!"

            The two were speechless.  Saria put her hand to her mouth as the tears at her eyes fell down her cheeks. 

            "I think you should wake up, now," the young Link said.  "They're going to need you."

            "Who?" Link asked.

            "_I think he's coming to,_" a soft voice echoed through the air.

            "The ones who were singing to you," Saria answered.

~

            "They said I might find you out here," the rough, weathered voice echoed through the garden.  He walked through the thick snow, trampling a few flowers at the entrance.  "Don't you think it's a bit cold to be gardening?"

            Zelda brushed back the rogue strand of blonde hair back under her hood and looked away from the intruding Knight.  "Don't you think it a bit cold to be murdering newborn children, Sir Bishop?" 

            Bishop let out a small laugh.  "They were right about you, your father and his soldiers.  You have great beauty, but your mouth needs to learn its place."

            Zelda turned to the Knight, his black armor shining in the glow of the distant dusk sky.  "My father is not the same man he once was," she said bitterly.  "Regardless of what he says, you have no right to repeat it, so I would watch your tongue."

"She sounds like one of noble birth," a voice called from behind Bishop.  At the doorway, another stood, wrapped in a yellow cloak.  She was a young girl, not much older than the Princess.  "Probably never worked a hard day in her life."

"Please, Princess Zelda, excuse my Squire, Sakura," Bishop interrupted.  "She has a bit of a tongue, herself, but her sword is as good as any."

"She knows nothing of me," Zelda answered.  "I have fought hard for this Kingdom.  I have lost blood, and worked diligently to save it time and again."

"When?" Sakura asked.  "Your father tells us other than escaping from time to time to the temples, you have done nothing except sit on your throne and cry in the night."

"My father knows nothing," Zelda cried.  "His memory has been wiped clean of when Gannondorf tried to destroy us all.  I was a part of the heroes who saved this land and ended the wars before they happened."

"Princess," Bishop began with a smile, moving close to the Princess and touching another rogue strand of hair, "After I destroy this baby, as well as these 'goddesses,' your Father has promised me your hand in marriage.  When that has happened, these…delusions of time travel and wars that will never happen will cease, do you understand?"

Zelda stepped away from the Knight, looking to the ground to hide the tears that wanted to fall.  "You—you can't…you wo—"

"Yes, I think I have done enough hero work for a lifetime," Bishop said, turning and walking towards the entrance to the garden.  "It is time to settle down, marry a princess, and have a kingdom to myself."

Zelda looked to the stars above as the moon slid across the now dark sky.  "This was not how it was supposed to be," she whispered, clenching her fists so hard her nails dug into her skin, drawing blood.  "This is not how it is going to be!"

~

            The world slowly came into focus as Link rubbed his eyes.  Warmth had filled his body once again, and the soft bed he lay upon made him forget about the bruises and cuts he had suffered in his battle against the demon.  He felt a cut by his eye and pulled his finger away, blood upon the tip, and then started to pull himself up from the bed.

            "No, do not rise too quickly," a woman's voice called out.  Link sat up, ignoring the order and turned in the bed to see two Gerudo women rushing over to help him.  "You heal quickly, Hylian, but not that quickly."

            The room surrounding them was dank and dark, stone walls and doorways, but filled with comfortable furniture and a warm fire in a small well at the center of the room.  It was not the hideout Link had once snuck his way through, but he knew he was close.  "Where am I?" he asked.

            "My name is Nacie," the Gerudo woman answered as she pressed a towel to Link's wound.  She wore the traditional clothes of the Gerudo thieves, except for a white cloak and bits of plated armor.  "This is my chamber…my home.  I am the leader of the Gerudo."

            "The leader?" Link asked.  "What happened to Nabooru?  When last I was here, she was the leader."

            The two Gerudo looked at each other.  "We have not seen Nabooru in some time, now, I am afraid.  We do not know what has become of her."

            "Here, drink this tea," Nacie said, lifting a warm cup.  "It will give you strength."

            Link gladly drank from the cup, letting the warmth of the tea fill his body.  He set the empty cup upon the table and stood, pulling his tunic back over his white undershirt, and pulling his boots on, while the two Gerudo women cleaned the table and straightened the bed.

            "There is great strength which courses through your veins, for few are the number that have been seen by the Icilander and lived," Nacie said.  "It has haunted our wastelands for months, now, ravaging our peoples and chasing us from the temple."

            Link tightened his belt and looked up at the Gerudo in confusion.  "The Gerudo are amongst the finest fighters I have ever witnessed, and yet you could not muster enough to take it down?" he asked.

            "We have been…disorganized, Hylian," Nacie responded.  "It is not only the Icilander that have hunted us, but the Wizrobes and Goblins of the caves.  With the rewards on our head by the Hyrule King, it is not wise for us to gather together for long, or stay in one place too long."

            "A price upon your heads?" Link asked, surprised.  "The royal family is just, they would do no such thing.  Nabooru is a Sage, how can the Church allow this?"

            "When our king, Gannondorf disappeared, there was calm and hopes for peace again in our world," Nacie answered.  "Then, the Hylians decided they were not going to allow our thieving ways any longer, and argued to the church of wars that were supposed to happen because of us, though they were supposedly stopped.  They were punishing us for events which had not even transpired!'

            'We were not surprised by this, as we've been hunted in the past, and our fortress is nearly impenetrable, but we were surprised several months ago when Nabooru went missing.  She told one of our thieves that she was going to the Temple of Light, but she has not been seen or heard from since.  That was also when…'He' began to hunt us."

            "He?" Link asked.  Both Gerudo thieves lowered their heads and looked from one to the other.  

            "His name is Nuerme, and he is the leader of the Wizrobes," Nacie said.  "His followers are fierce and many.  His armies fight in the battles between the Gorons and Zora, and what they lack in intelligence they make up for with their numbers."

            "Wait," Link started.  "The Gorons and Zora are at war?  Why has Hyrule not stepped in?  What is happening to this realm?"

            "The answers to your questions I know not," Nacie whispered.  "All I know is that we are hunted, we are scared, and we need the strength of the one who can destroy a Icilander."

            Link looked down to the floor in thought.  Never before had he turned down a plea for help, but with so much going on elsewhere, he wondered if he might not better serve these people by getting to the castle, first.

            He turned to talk with the Gerudo and his eyes met their pleading green eyes.  The fear that ran through ones who were so proud not long ago was overwhelming.  "I suppose…I have no choice," Link answered carefully.  "You did, after all, pull me from the snows.'

            "However, I do not know our enemy, though I have encountered Wizrobes before.  I do not know where he resides, or what kind of weapons are needed to stop him, that is, if he can be stopped at all.  If the numbers are as large as you say, we may need the army of Hyrule to help us."

            "Hyrule will not help us, as we have said," Nacie answered.  "However, there are some who may.  "Nuerme is allied with the Zora, and resides in the Water temple.  We may find help with the Goron peoples."

            "Good," Link answered, grabbing the last of his things and walking to the doorway.  "I need some weapons and armor, at any rate, as mine has all been lost or destroyed.  We can go to Kakariko village and find what we—"

            "What?" Nacie asked, as Link stopped suddenly.  

            "Do you hear screams?" Link asked.  "From down the tunnels?"

            Nacie rushed to the hall and listened carefully.  She turned to Link, her face flushed. "They have found us!"

~

  
            "Is this the way it must be, my King?" Duggan asked as he followed his lord down the long, winding hallway.  "I understand the need to stop the prophecies, but to kill a child?"

            "These are different times, Duggan," the King answered.  "There is much evil in the world, and wars are filling our lands.  Hard decisions must be made.  No one will miss one child, and besides, it is not we who are killing the child, rather it is a Knight from another land."

            "Yes, m'lord, but that makes our hands no cleaner," Duggan replied.  "When shaking with bloody hands, it does not stay on one person."

            "And thinking like that, Duggan, is why you are nothing more than a lower-tier Captain in my guard," the King answered as he came to the large, wooden door.  "Now, no more talk of this in front of my daughter, her heart is undoubtedly hurt by what has been decided.  I will talk to her, and help her to understand our thinking."

            "I am not certain that any explanation will help her, my lord," Duggan responded.  "Perhaps we should just let her be."

            The King opened the door, ignoring his advisor and walked in.  The room was bathed in the soft blue light of the large moon outside, and the cold, cold air swept through the open window, but the Princess was not within.

            "Confounded!" he spat.  "Has she wandered off to that cursed temple again?  This is why we built a chapel at the Castle!"

            "No, m'lord," Duggan answered, holding up a letter on the desk.  "It would seem that someone else has a hand in this all.  I have a letter from one named, 'Shiek."

            "Never heard of him," the King responded.  "What does the letter say?"

            "_None shall harm the child_," Duggan read.  "Signed, _Shiek_."

            "Alert the guards and ready the Military scouts," the King said as he turned to the hallway.  "My daughter has been kidnapped by this Shiek, in some plan to save the child.  He will be caught and executed."

            "At once, my lord," Duggan responded, still looking carefully at the letter.


	5. The Caves of Hylia River

Chapter 4

~ **The Caves of Hylia River** ~

            For but a brief moment, nothing could be heard in the cave, save the drops of water slipping through the cracks of the cave ceiling from the rivers above and below.  Darkness saturated the caves, and the light of the torches carried by Link and Nacie was quickly swallowed by the greedy shadows.

            Though it was as cold as he had ever felt, Link could feel beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead as his comrade and he silently whisked through the tunnels, Nacie leading the way.

            The silence could not last long, however, as Nacie and Link slid out of the tunnel entrance to an enormous cavern where the underwater lake began.  Below, the Gerudo thieves were captured, surrounded by hundreds, perhaps thousands of small troll-like creatures, heavily armed, and several Wizrobes.  Link had never before seen Goblins or Wizrobes like these.  Their skin was green, and their eyes were bright red, almost as though they glowed.  They were wrapped in blue or red cloaks, and their horned heads were covered with thick, gray hair.

            "Damn," Nacie hissed as she pulled her veil over her face.  "I had hoped to be able to fight them together."

            Link slid along the wall, refilling his quill with arrows and looking in vain for some sort of sword.  "What will you do, now?" Link whispered.  "The two of us cannot take them all on, especially without a sword."

            Nacie smiled beneath her veil and looked up to the Hylian.  "I only have to hold their attention for a moment.  We Gerudo have our own ways of escaping when needed.  However, they will come after us as soon as I get their attention.  Do you think you are ready, hero?"

            "I would be more ready with a sword," Link hissed as he lay back down at the edge of the ridge overlooking the lake.  

            "The way of the thieves is not direct fight," Nacie answered.  "These caverns are booby-trapped.  We will fight with our minds and our bodies."

            Link nodded as he pulled an arrow from his quiver and readied his bow.  "I hope you know what you are doing, Nacie."

            "Aim for the Wizrobes, for they are more dangerous," Nacie whispered as she stood.

            Link lifted his aim to an especially important looking Wizrobe and readied himself.

            "Is this an army?" Nacie called out, lifting her arms and laughing out at all before her.  "I am deeply troubled, army of Hylia Lake, for I thought Nuerme had real soldiers beneath them."

            The army below began to grumble and many called out, pointing to the Gerudo leader. 

            "Well, if you truly want to capture the Gerudo, my friends, then come after me," Nacie called out, smiling broadly under her veil.

            The Wizrobes barked out orders to the Goblins and began pointing to the stairways at either side of the stairs.  Link, still hidden in the darkness let his arrow fly.  It struck the Wizrobe and sent it crashing into the lake.

            The attack apparently from thin air had the desired affect.  The Goblins cowered in fear of another attack, and the Wizrobes began firing shots everywhere.  No one, however, was paying attention to the Gerudo thieves, who, carefully and swiftly, darted past the Goblins into the openings of the walls and escaped as quickly as they could.

            Link let two more arrows fly, one taking down another Wizrobe, and the other knocking out a Goblin Captain.  Nacie formed small balls of fire in her hands and launched them below to the Goblins, taking out several with each shot.

            "There!" hissed one of the Wizrobes as he shot an icicle from his wand across the room.  The icicle nailed the wall just above Link's head, and the Hylian turned to Nacie.  She smiled and turned to the tunnel.

            The other Wizrobes began firing all kinds of magical projectiles at the soldier, and it took everything he had to avoid each attack, just making it around the mouth of the tunnel before it was swallowed by Goblins.

            "Hurry, Link!" Nacie called from ahead.  Link watched as she threw a fireball down a tunnel to the left and rushed to the right.  The Hylian quickly followed her down the path, and looked over his shoulder to see many Goblins follow the fireball.

            "They're not too smart, but you still don't want them to get a hold of you!" Nacie called out.  "Here's where we split up.  Be careful, and I'll meet you back at the lakes, or in the afterlife, whichever finds us, first!"

            Link nodded and rushed down the left corridor, watching Nacie slide into the right tunnel.  He felt the ground beneath harden and become slippery, and the gleam of torches far behind him reflected on the ice around the young soldier.

            Link watched carefully the ice around him, keeping in mind what Nacie had said earlier about booby-traps.  He was thankful for her warning when he saw the strange green icicles hanging between the blue stalactites hanging on the ceiling.  He squeezed through the tunnel, careful to avoid walking under the icicles and continued down the entrance as the Goblins grunted and groaned behind.  Seconds later, he heard the unmistakable sound of ice crashing, and the screams of creatures in agony.

            The tunnel ended suddenly, and the soldier slid off the pathway.  Just as he fell, he instinctively reached back and found the rocky edge, saving his body from falling on the spikes below.  Link pulled out his hookshot, and pulled himself across the ravine to the other side of the room, turned, pulled his bow and arrows out and watched.

            The first Goblins came in through the doorway.  Link could see them by the torches they carried.  He let loose his arrows, catching the first two through the stomach, one in front of the other.  His third arrow missed to the left as one of the Goblins saw it and ducked, but he slid through the door and fell into the waiting pit below.  Three more rushed through and fell before a Captain stopped them and ordered them around the pit.

            Link turned and rushed up the tunnels again, feeling them rise under his feet, and the ice turning to slush before turning to puddles and mud.  His lungs were beginning to burn and a stitch started to pull at his side as his aching muscles began to revolt from his brain.

            "Hey, hero," Nacie's familiar voice called out as she landed next to the soldier, her two bright swords glowing dimly in the light.  "I see you've lived so far.  Come, this way will lead us back to the entrance."

            "I haven't seen the Wizrobes, yet," Link whispered as he turned and followed her, his gaze still over his shoulders.  "Only Goblins."

            "Perhaps, young one, you haven't been looking too hard," she responded.  Link heard the sound of metal pulling from a sheath and turned to the young woman.  She was smiling, her teeth glowing through her veil, and her eyes a bright yellow as she reached back.  Both swords flung from her hand, and Link barely dodge them both as he flipped back.

            With a motion that defied sight, Link pulled an arrow from his quiver and let it fly.  Nacie disappeared from sight and reappeared a few feet away as a Wizrobe.  The creature's glowing eyes looked out from the darkness of its blue hood, and its glowing magical rod was pointed at Link.

            "Far too slow, little one," the Wizrobe called out.  It let loose a blast from its wand, which Link sidestepped.  The wave from the wand nailed the first of the goblins as it rushed in through the doorway, turning it into a frog.

            Link turned to the onslaught of Goblins.  The first one shot in, sword raised, and swung sideways at the hero.  Link pressed himself to the wall, just avoiding the tip of the blade and stepped in on the Goblin, sending his gloved fist into the creature's jaw, and knocking it out.  

            The second Goblin swung a heavy axe down, which clipped Link's arm as he swung around.  The Hylian kicked the butt of the axe, sending the sharpened end of it flying into the creature's stomach.

            The Wizrobe raised his wand and shot a blast across the room.  Link dove aside as the blast ripped stone and Goblin apart, and littered the room with debris and bodies.

            Link rubbed his eyes, barely lifting himself from the debris.  His arm was burnt in several places from the explosion, and he couldn't hear anything at all as a trickle of blood fell from his ears.  He looked up to see the Wizrobe standing right before him, wand pointed down at his head.

            Suddenly, the creature was swallowed in flames.  It screeched as it flailed around, sending blasts from its wand in all directions.

            Link rolled over to a dead goblin, grabbed its axe and rushed to the Wizrobe, chopping its head off.  The creature disappeared without a trace.

            "Well done, hero," Nacie yelled, though it sounded like a whisper to Link.

            "Couldn't have done it without you," Link called back.

            "Come, now, we must get to the entrance.  There are dozens more Goblins, and several more Wizrobes, but I think we can sneak by them if we hurry!"

            Link looked back at the room, now destroyed beyond recognition.  He shook his head, turned and ran after the Gerudo.

~

            The first gleam of sunrise began to spread over the forests of the Kokiri, the waterfalls of the Zora and Death Mountain.  All was blanketed in a snowy frosting, giving the appearance that the Goddesses had sprinkled diamonds across the horizon for all to see.

            A new mother rocked back and forth in her rocking chair as she looked out the window of her living room, watching the sun slowly rise over the distant horizon, her daughter sleeping gently on her lap.

            "You're up awfully early, Miere," a warm voice called out.

            "Oh, Koine," Miere smiled.  "I simply wanted a moment's peace with our daughter.  Since she was borne, so many have come by for a glimpse, I just wanted to be a normal mother for just a moment."

            "Normal," Koine smiled.  "That is a word I've heard a lot recently.  Ever since the Zora and Goron War started, people all over have wanted things back to normal.  Those two races seem not to care who gets hurt, so long as they think they have an advantage over the other.  It scares me to bring a daughter into this world."

            "Oh, hush, now, Koine," Miere whispered.  "Everything will be okay.  Our daughter, after all, is protected by the Goddesses, is she not?"

            Before Koine could answer, a knocking came at the door.

            "By the Goddesses," Miere hissed.  "It is not even sunrise, yet, and they have come to see the child!"

            "I'll send them on their way," Koine answered, as he went to the door.  "We need our time with our baby.  Speaking of which, we need a name, soon."

            "Open the door, Koine!" a voice called from outside.  "It's me, Kwan!"

            "Kwan?" Koine asked, opening the door and letting his neighbor in.  "What on earth are doing up so early?"

            "Koine, this is no time," Kwan answered.  "Soldiers…from Hyrule Castle are coming!  Here!  They are coming here for the child!"

            "How do you know?" Koine asked.  "Did you see them?  Why are they coming here?"

            "They're coming to take the baby!" Kwan answered.  "Mueriate works in the Castle.  She overheard some of the soldiers talking last night!  You must take the baby and hide before they find you!"

            "Hyrule would never take our baby!" Miere laughed.  "Why would they think of doing such a thing?"

            "Mueriate has never been wrong before about occurances of the castle, Miere," Kwan answered.  "We must—"

            A knocking came at the door.  "Soldiers," Miere whispered, looking from the window.

            "Open up!" the soldiers called from outside.

            "The back!" Kwan hissed, turning to the doorway, but before she moved, she jumped, startled by something on the table.

            "The house is surrounded," the soft, gentle-sounding voice called.  "They are here to destroy your baby."

            "But why?" Miere asked.  "Why?  She is just a baby, she can do no harm to anyone!"

            "The King fears her.  The world fears her.  Her birth may well mean the end of the world.  I, however, can protect her, if you will trust me."

            "Wh—who are you?" Koine asked.  "I've never seen you here before!"

            "My name is Sir Bishop," the Knight sitting on the table smiled.  "And I am a hero.  A hero who will save this land."

~

            Three more Goblins fell to the ground in the explosion, but Link was quickly running out of arrows.  Nacie was holding her own, but she was tiring quickly, too, it seemed.

            "Perhaps it was a mistake to come back to the lake?" Link called out.

            "It's the only way out, hero!" Nacie answered.  "We had to risk it!"

            "Where are your friends, then?" Link asked, as he side-stepped another attack, then thrust the Goblin's own sword through another and himself.  "The friends who escaped in those tunnels?"

            "They slipped out while the Goblins and Wizrobes were chasing us!" Nacie answered, throwing fireballs over the rock at the attacking Wizrobes.

            "Ah, well…"

            A Wizrobe floated over Link, firing shots down on him, but Link was too quick, sidestepping, then ducking under attacks from the Goblins.  He slid under one Goblin's attack and pulled its elbow down on his own shoulder.  He then tossed the larger creature, using the strength of his gloves, into the air and slamming the Wizrobe into the cave walls.  The Wizrobe disappeared and reappeared a few feet away, unharmed by the attack.

            Link pulled his last arrow from his quiver and took careful aim at the Wizrobe who was readying its attack.  He let the arrow fly, but before it reached, something wrapped around the enemy's neck and whipped it back.

            The whole cave stopped for a second as the Wizrobe screamed out in agony. Twenty tentacles reached out from the reflective surface of the waters, shooting out at the goblins on the land.

            "What is that?" Link yelled, dodging a tentacle, then a Goblin.

            "A Weatrabe…a Water Demon!" Nacie yelled.  "Though none live in this part of the world!"

            "There's one here, now," Link responded.  He slid under a tentacle as it grabbed a Goblin and yanked it forward.  Link reached out and yanked a sword from the Goblin's hand as it shot across the rocks, pulled into the underwater lake.

            Quickly, the Hylian swung with his new sword straight up, chopping off the tentacle as it darted past him, then parried an income axe as a Goblin attacked.  Link riposted with his sword, slicing off the creature's head, then slicing off another tentacle as it tried to wrap around him.

            Two more Wizrobes and several more Goblins were captured and pulled into the sea.  Link rushed up and sliced off a tentacle that had wrapped around Nacie's foot then pulled the Gerudo below a rock and looked under it to the waters.

            "There are no more Goblins," he whispered.  "Perhaps it will leave."

            "Shh," Nacie said, putting her finger to her lips.  

            The tentacles searched the beach, finding occasional dead bodies and pulling them into the waters.  One tentacle reached over the boulders and even felt between them, but Link and Nacie easily avoided their grasp.  The tentacles had huge suction cups across the bottom, and their reach seemed endless.

            Suddenly, a tentacle shot down between the rocks.  Link and Nacie turned and readied their weapons, but froze as the tentacles whipped out a Wizrobe, hiding behind the boulders not far from them.  The screeching Wizrobe was yanked down into the waters below, before dying away.

            The tentacles searched for ages, checking cracks in the walls, and even lifting boulders.  Nacie nudged Link and pointed to the hallways, but he shook his head and motioned to stay.  His experience with these types of creatures had taught him well.

            After several close calls, the tentacles pulled back into the waters.

            "How long do you suppose we should wait?" Link asked, finally standing up and looking out at the torch-lit waters.  "It might stick around and guard the entrance."

            "I only hope it has not eaten my followers," Nacie answered.  

            "Knowing the Gerudo," Link smiled, "They likely made it with no trouble past something so large."

            Nacie smiled and batted her eyelashes at the warrior.  "You are the flatterer, aren't you, hero?" she asked.  "Perhaps, we can pass the time in another manner?"

            Link stretched and looked out at the water.  "What?" he asked.  "What do you mean?"

            "I just—"

            Before she could say, the tentacles shot out of the water and wrapped around the Gerudo woman.  She started to scream, but another tentacle shot around her mouth, and the long arms yanked her over the rocks to the murky, cold waters.

            "Nacie!" Link screamed, jumping over the rocks.  Two more tentacles shot out, but Link easily cut them away.  He pulled off his green tunic and loosely threw on his blue tunic, jumping down into the water.

            The flames above the water provided very little light, and, even as Link watched, Nacie was disappearing into the darkness of the waters.  Link pulled  His hookshot and took aim at the Gerudo woman.  He released the trigger, and the arrow stuck in the tentacle, yanking the Hylian through the waters.

            Link reached through the opening of the wrapped tentacle and pulled out Nacie's dagger, then stabbed as hard as he could into the tentacle.  It hardened, then let go of the Gerudo woman.

            Link lifted her body, noticing that she was almost out of breath, and slid her arm through one of the sleeves in his tunic, allowing her to breath as he did.

            The two floated in mid lake, for a moment, barely able to see in any direction, except two distant points of light, one of which was the entrance to the cave system, and the other was the tunnels the Gerudo had called home for some time, now.

            Suddenly, two large points of light appeared around them.  Two more appeared on the other side, and the light showed the faces of the great creatures that had surrounded the two warriors.  Both looked as fierce as dragons, with long, wide heads and sharp teeth around enormous mouths.  Tentacles reached out in every direction from around the creatures' bodies.  

            Link lifted his hookshot and pointed it at one of the creatures, then the other, unsure of where to shoot.

            One of the creatures let out a grumbling roar that sent vibrations through the water.  Both floated around the two warriors for a moment, then attacked, together.

            Link pulled the Gerudo tight to his chest and kicked hard with his feet while the hookshot blasted out at the creature's eye, though it did not penetrate.

            The tentacles shot this way and that, nearly ensnaring the two twice, but Nacie ripped at them with her knife, barely keeping them free.  Link pulled his sword  and swatted at the tentacles, but the weight of the sword in the thick waters made it move too slowly, and the sword glanced off the tough skin without even a knick.

            One of the tentacles wrapped Nacie around her foot, and both creatures closed in, trapping the two between them.  Link looked around for any weakspot, and mentally searched his pouches for any weapon that could help them.

            Nacie pulled the hookshot from Link's hand and aimed it at the Water Demon behind her.  She pulled the trigger and let it fly.  It missed the creature, going high over its head, but it connected with something else, instead.

            Nacie released the trigger and the hookshot yanked the two forward through the water, ripping her free from the tentacle's grasp and straight past the two demons. 

            They reached a ledge where Nacie freed the Hookshot and shot again towards the light.  Again, it stuck and yanked them away from the beasts, towards the light.  Two more shots brought the two to freedom above.

            Link carried the Gerudo out of the river onto the rocky shores and then pulled his tunic back around himself.  "Good—Good thinking," he panted.  "That's twice, now, you've saved my life."

            "Come," Nacie panted.  "We must meet up at the fallback spot."

            "Where is that?" Link asked.  

            "The fortress.  It's not far, now."

            "No," Link said, standing up.  He looked down the river towards the Hylia Lake.  "I…I have to go, alone, to the Water Temple."

            "And get yourself killed?" Nacie asked.  "Hero, Nuerme is not some demon.  He is much, much more powerful, and he will kill you if you face him alone."

            "I've face powerful before," Link answered. "More powerful than you can imagine."

            "And he's still more powerful than that, hero," Nacie yelled.  "I'm telling you, go down that river alone, and he will kill you!"

            "I've been through that temple before," Link answered.  "I killed the Amoeba that was within.  I've taken on great creatures of the sea before, and seldom have I been hurt too badly."

            "Link, you fool, he is not a creature of the sea!" Nacie yelled.  "He is a Wizard!  He is far more powerful than anything we've ever seen, and I've see Gannondorf's evil ways!"

            Link looked to Nacie.  "I have weapons and items that can help me.  Go, muster your girls and ready them.  I…I have to go.  I have to do this.  I am sorry."

            Link turned and began to walk along the rocks on the river banks, carefully climbing from one to another to avoid falling in, as the first rays of sunlight began to shine down over the cliff edges.

            "You fool," Nacie spat as she began to climb up the tall cliffs.  She turned and looked over her shoulder to the Hylian and shook her head.  After climbing a few paces, she let out a sigh, shook her head and turned to the Warrior.  "Wait up, then!" she yelled.  "If you're going to get yourself killed, at least have me there to pull you out when you die!"

~

            "They have taken the child!"

            "Soldiers, from Hyrule Castle!"

            The village was bustling with activity as the horses began to rush away from the house.  A Knight, clad in black led several soldiers down the cobblestone street towards the Castle.

            Above, a figure stood atop the Castle walls, looking down at the Knight as he carried a small baby in his arms.  As soon as she had put on the purple suite and pulled the wrappings around, a flood of memories of another existence filled Shiek's mind.  All the training, all the experience of another lifetime came back in a flash.

            "I hope you're ready, hero," Shiek whispered.  "You've never faced anything like what you're about to."

~

Next: Shiek, Zora/Goron War, and the Goddesses.

Writer's note:  I am about to begin working on a story called "Cades Cove."  It is not a Zelda story, rather an original story about Mice in a Valley called, well, Cades Cove. (Cades Cove is an actual Valley in Tennessee).  I need a Beta Reader or two.  Someone who likes Tolkien-type fantasies, furry animals, and is very good at judging stories.  If you're interested, e-mail me at crsstndrdge@hotmail.com .  Oh, this story won't be on FF.net, though.

Thanks.


	6. Running from Safety

Chapter 5

~ **Throwing Rocks into the Pond ~**

_Like a fish in water_.  Duggan used to watch the young Princess run and jump from stone to stone through the waterways of the castle, and always told her she was meant, maybe in another life, to be a traveler.  A fighter.  She moved with such grace and elegance over the slippery rocks, Duggan would tell her, was like watching a fish in water.

            As the adrenaline rushed through her veins, and the feeling of absolute freedom began to fill her heart once again, the Princess remembered Duggan's words. 

 The rising sun was taking her precious darkness away as she dashed from stone to stone, steadily keeping up with the trotting horses below.  The shadows would not hide her for much longer, and if the Princess waited too long, Bishop would be back at the gates.  She would have to strike quickly.

Sheik dashed out from the stone and leapt from the overhanging cliff down to the horses below, easily knocking one of the Knights from his horse.  Quickly, she pulled the spear from its holster and slammed the back of it into the other Knight, knocking him down to the ground and out cold.  The Sheikah Warrior spun and rolled from the horse to the ground, slipping the spear's end under the helm of the black-clad warrior.

"It is about time you attacked, Shiek, I presume?" Bishop laughed as his horse stamped the ground.  "I've been waiting since we left the house."

"You will give me the child," Shiek hissed.  "Or, I shall have to leave your lifeless body behind."

"And where will you take the baby?" Bishop asked.  "To the place you took the Princess?  They Hylian Armies are searching the lands for you, and they will not rest, especially since the King wants this baby."

"A shadow grows over Hyrule Castle," Sheik said carefully.  "This King is not himself.  The King of Hyrule is a good, just King, not a pawn of greed.  I will protect the baby and the Princess from harm, and the King will see the error of his ways."

"Well, then, what choice have I?" Bishop laughed, lifting his mask.  Slowly, he handed the screaming baby down to the young warrior and back away on his horse.  "You have the baby, now, you best hurry before I scream for help to come."

Sheik looked carefully with her ruby eyes at the black-armored Knight.  She dropped the spear and threw a marble at the horse's feet.  A small explosion caused the horse to upend, dropping its rider to the ground.  Bishop pulled himself up, yanked out his sword and darted forward, but Sheik had already disappeared.   The Knight wiped the blood from his lip and looked out at the dusty road leading back to the village.

"Do you see him?" Bishop called out.

"Of course, my lord," a soft voice answered from the top of the cliff nearby.  "He cannot move too quickly with the baby, and its screams will carry very far away."

"This 'Sheik' will lead us to the Princess, Sakura, follow him, and when you have found his hideout, kill him," Bishop answered.  "I will follow as quickly as I can with the Hylian Guard."

"He is headed towards the mountains, sire," Sakura responded.  "Kakariko Village, I believe is what it is called."

"Very well," Bishop responded, turning to the oncoming Horsemen.  "Go."

"At once," Sakura answered, rushing along the hills to the castle walls.

"The fool will lead us straight to the Princess, and then, when I save her, she will have no choice but to marry me."

~

            Sheik jumped from roof to roof, carefully trying to avoid the eyes of any below on the streets, but the crying baby made it difficult.  Already, she could hear the hoofs of the horses from the castle behind her, and her heart began beating a little harder.  Even if she made it out of the city, where could she hide?

            "Shh," Sheik whispered, stopping behind a chimney and crouching low over the red-haired child.  "Please don't cry."

            The baby suddenly stopped, looking up at the ruby-eyed warrior in surprise.  A smile spread across her face, and her arms flailed out.

            Sheik looked around, unsure of where to go.  Kakariko made sense.  She had hidden there for years, before.  But it would only work if Impa was there, and Zelda hadn't seen Impa for almost two days.

            "She can't have gone far!" a voice called out from the alleyways.  "The gate guards have not seen anyone exiting the walls!"

            Sheik tightly wrapped a bandage around the baby and tightened the knots around her back and stomach, freeing her hands.  She pulled out a knife and started running down the wooden shingles of the roof.  With a leap, she left the rooftop and landed on the Castle walls, then rolled over, protecting the infant and slid down the wall, silently rolling past the guard walking along the top.

            Sheik slid his knife into the castle walls and used them to slow her descent to the water before splashing into the river.  The warrior grasped the Knife and held very still against the wall, careful to keep the baby above the water, but also careful not to move or make a sound.  The guards at the gates heard the splashing and looked over towards the bend.

            The icy waters felt like knives stabbing into the princess's legs as the arctic winds and snows blew around the castle, but Sheik held tightly to the knife, waiting for the guard's attention to be diverted again.

            After what felt like ages, the guards began talking to one another again, and Sheik slowly slid into the water, holding the newborn above and pulled herself across to the bank.

            The bridge was not far away, but she was still a half day away from the city.  The temptation to use her harp weighed heavily on Sheik's mind, but she knew it would not carry the infant through with her to the Shadow Temple.  

            "There!" a voice called out. 

            Sheik didn't even look over her shoulder, she already knew she had been spotted. She rushed forward as fast as her legs could carry her, and the thundering of the horses shook the ground.

            The black horses kicked up mounds of snow as they darted out from the drawbridge and across the Hylian Plains.  Sheik rushed as quickly as she could to the bridge, knowing it was her only chance.  

            An arrow shot past her head, the force of which was amazing to the Princess.  She had forgotten just how powerful these projectiles could be.

            The horses closed in quickly on the running Sheikah Warrior, and as they came closer, Sheik heard the sound of swords pulled from sheathes.  The cold sound of metal against leather made her skin crawl, and real fear began to slide into her heart.

            The baby began to cry, and tears began to form at Sheik's eyes as she realized she could not make it to the bridge in time.

            The first horse thundered close, and the rider leaned down and swiped at the warrior with his sword. Zelda rolled forward, careful to keep her stomach apart and not crush the infant.  She paid for the move with a cut across her shoulder.

            The second horse rushed in, sword raised.  Sheik spun around and yanked out her dagger.  The Knight leaned down and swiped with his sword, but Sheik was able to deflect the blade just enough to not lose her head.  However, the blade sliced into her arm, and the snow was dotted with red drops.

            The horses turned, riders ready with their swords, blocking the bridge.  More Knights charged out from the bridge, including Bishop and Duggan, as far as Sheik could see.  The baby wailed as loud as it could, its red face leaning out from its blanket.

            Whistling sounds cried out through the air, the unmistakable sound of arrows launched from the distance.  Sheik ducked and looked over her shoulder as the two riders fell from their horses by the bridge, arrows sticking out from their arms.  The Knights howled in rage as they held their arms in the snow.

            Sheik took advantage of the attack and launched herself atop the nearest horse, rushing across the bridge.  She pulled the horse around the bridge and darted down the river as the other mass of Knights rode along the other bank of the river.

            An arrow passed by the Sheikah as she rushed along the bank, snow flying past her eyes.  She heard Duggan cuss aloud to stop before the hit the child.

            Sheik pulled away from the river and darted towards the stairs leading to Kakariko Village.  Three horses had cross the bridge and darted in an intercept path towards her.  The pulled swords from their long, white cloaks and pulled their helmets over their faces.

            Shiek pulled the horse to a stop and jumped down from the saddle to the stairs.  The horses of the Hylians darted forward to cut her off, but before they came too close, Sheik raised her hand and flung her fingers open.  A flash of golden light blasted from her hand out to the field, blinding any who looked at the warrior.  The horses pulled their horses to a stopped and lifted their helmets, cursing and rubbing their eyes.

            Sheik turned and ran up the stairs as quickly as she could to the village.

~

            "The Guard of the Castle had only taken the child to _protect_ her!" the Chancellor called from the gate to the crowd that had gathered below.  "Before Sir Bishop could take the child in, however, a thief of the Sheikah kidnapped the infant and is on the run, now!"

            "The Sheikah have done nothing but protect the people of Hyrule in the past!" a voice called from the crowd.  "Why would they want to hurt the child?"

            The Chancellor raised his arms to quiet the mumbling crowd.  "There are some in the world who believe that this child will bring the end of the world.  They will do all they can to stop that, including killing the baby.  I assure you, the King's Guard, and the best of his Cavalry are hunting the Sheikah as we speak, working hard to return the child to the village."

            "To me?" Miere called up.  "Will I be able to be with my child?"

            The Chancellor thought for a moment.  "Of course.  However, the child will have to stay in the castle!  You will be able to visit when possible."

            As the Chancellor continued to call down to the angry mob below, the King looked on from the castle.  "Guard," he said, turning to the soldier at the end of his room.  "If the people have not dispersed in five minutes, run them through with spearmen."

            The guard stood in shock, looking at the King.  "Sire?" he asked.

            The King looked at the guard and smiled.  "If you do not do as I command, you will find yourself at the end of a spear.  The Chancellor cannot keep up his lies for too long, and if you do not disperse the crowd, he may falter.  Now GO."

            "Yes, m'lord," the guard answered, bowing and quickly exiting the room.

            "Stupid fool," the Kings spat, turning to the window.  "A King's orders should be followed at once.  If they do not, then they do not respect me."

            "You have been too soft on them for too long, Lord," a voice called out.  The King turned slowly to a podium with a cloth covering and object.  The King walked over and pulled the cloth off, a glowing blue pulsing as it sat on the podium.  "They will need time to adjust to your new, superior way of thinking."

            "The child was kidnapped," the King spat.  "As was my daughter.  Where are your legions of soldiers you promised me, Lord Nuerme?"

            "Patience, your highness," the orb responded.  "I already knew of the kidnapping.  My soldiers are rushing to remedy the situation as we speak."

            "How—"

            "How did I know?" Nuerme interrupted.  "I know all, my friend.  I will have the baby's life in my own hands by nightfall, you need not worry.  Your legions will be in your hands soon.  Remember your tasks that have been set before you."

            "I will not forget them, my lord," the King answered, bowing before the orb.

~

            Sheik rushed around the corner and down the snowy field to the gates of the city.  The wooden spires were closed off, but they opened by themselves for the Sheikah warrior.  The infant had stopped crying and was enjoying a small piece of wrapping to play with. 

            Sheik rushed forward, expecting the citizens of the city to be out and about in the snows, and the busy city bustling with activity.  The sight before her eyes would forever stay in her mind.

            The houses burned in raging fires, the smoke of which rose along the mountainside, appearing to come from the mountain and not the city.  Spears and arrows littered the ground, and signs of an armed conflict were everywhere.

            Icy winds blew the snows down from the mountains, whipping around the smoke and blowing it back up the side of the mountain.  Great bodies of water flooded the houses, even as the houses themselves burned.

            "How?" she whispered to herself, unable to find any other words.

            "And now, you see, the long fingers of war can spread across the valley and touch even those closest to us," a familiar voice called out.  Impa walked alongside her own burning house to face the Princess as she stood by the broken tree.  "Do not worry, the people of the village are safe and well hidden, but their homes, their very lives will be forever scarred by what has happened here."

            "Impa?" Shiek asked.  "War?  The Gorons and Zora?  Why did we never hear of this atrocity?"

            "Your father did," Impa answered.  "I told him myself.  The Zora attacked the city, thousands strong from the river.  Their army of Goblins and Wizrobes destroyed the houses and attacked the peoples before they moved on up the mountain to take the fight to the Gorons.  This happened nearly three days ago.  Your father said nothing.  Hylian soldiers were not touched in the battle, only Sheikah warriors felt the touch of war."

            "But, why?" Shiek asked, pulling her hood and bandages back to reveal her long, golden hair.  "Father's heart has darkened, but even he would not allow an atrocity such as this!"

            "He would, Princess, because he was behind it," Impa answered.  "His Wizrobes and Goblins aided the Zora and Hylian guards in destroying the city."

            "No," Zelda whispered, tears forming at her eyes.  "It's not possible."

            "Hyrule Guards were the ones who set the houses on fire," Impa continued.  "For reasons unknown, the Royal Family of Hyrule has turned against its own people."

            "Impa!" Zelda yelled.  "I would never!  I am a Sheikah Warrior!"

            "In another lifetime, perhaps," Impa answered.  "But here, now, you have been nothing more than a dreamer.  Dreaming of a life and a love long since run off.  You have done nothing to help the Gorons or Zora, and in that sense, you are as guilty as your father."

            "Impa?" Zelda asked, stepping back a few steps and letting her hand slide down to her side.  "Impa, you cannot be serious."

            "You are also guilty of using time, itself, as a toy…a weapon to defeat an enemy that fate had agreed to come to power," Impa continued again.  "It is because of these crimes that we—that we, the sages, must carry out punishment upon you and your family."

            Zelda took another step back and bumped into something that was not there before.  She turned and looked up to see the angry face of Darunia, the Sage of the Temple of Fire.  He was also the King of the Goron tribe.

            Zelda whipped around and jumped back just as the large Goron slammed his fist down into the earth.  "Your father is no brother of mine, the traitorous fool!" Darunia barked.

            Other figures began to appear at different points:  Saria, the sage of the Forest Temple stood by the houses, her hand to her heart and her eyes not looking to the Princess.  Rauro, Sage of the Temple of Light, stood by Ruto, the sage of the Water Temple.  Nabooru stood next to the broken tree, a long sword ready in her hands as she eyed the Princess.

            "Zelda," Saria finally spoke up.  "Let me take the child, she is the only hope for the future."

            "The people of Hyrule will never be able to trust your family again after this," Rauro added.  "It is the only way."

            "As is killing me?" Zelda asked as she unwrapped the baby and gently handed her to Saria.

            "Zelda," Impa started, "It is you who have tried to kill us."

            "What?" Zelda asked.  "I would never!"

            "The ones who torched the city…claim to have done it in your name," Ruto answered.  "They follow your orders!"

            "They lie!  I have no powers!  I cannot—"

            "Then how do you explain them?" Darunia asked, pointing to the burning houses.  Three Wizrobes began to float out from the fires, followed by dozens of Zora, and hundreds of Goblins.  A Captain of the Goblins rushed forth, swung his sword around and stuck it into the ground kneeling before the Princess. 

            "We will fight and die for you, my Princess!" the Goblin cried.  

            "No," Zelda whimpered.  "You have to believe me, I…I have no control over them!"

            The Captain stood up and raised his sword to the air.  "Attack!" he called, and the army poured out from the houses, brushing past the Princess to the Sages.

            "Please, no," Zelda cried, falling helplessly to the snow.  "Do not do this."

~

            "I've never seen the Lake like this, Link," Nacie whispered.  "How can anyone, even the Zora, have the power to do such a thing?"

            Link stepped forward to the edge of the Lake.  The sun had long passed behind the clouds, and the snows that fell from the skies began to once again blanket all around them.  The Lake, once so full of life, now lay dry, a great canyon at the edge of Hyrule.  Dead fish littered the area, and great birds picked away at their carcasses on the Lake bottom.

            "Even Gannon didn't completely dry the Lake," Link whispered.  "I'm beginning to think your Nuerme is as powerful as you say."

            "Gannondorf dried the lake?" Nacie asked.  "When was this?"

            "Forget it," Link answered.  "Another lifetime.  We'll have to hurry across the field and river as quick as we can before too many of those birds spot us.  They'll not be too much of a nuisance, but too many of them may make it difficult.  This would be easier if I had Epona, but I left her behind."

            "Wear this," Nacie said, pulling a cloak around the Hylian.  "I had it wrapped up in my pouch.  It will keep you warm, and it looks like its only going to get colder once we get in that temple."

            "Whatever happens, Nacie, stay alive," Link said, looking to the Gerudo.  "Your people need you.  Perhaps now, more than ever before."

            Nacie nodded and checked her dagger.  "Let us go, then," she whispered.

            Link nodded and began walking along the snow towards the river.  The house at he edge of the waters still stood, but, from this side, it was apparent no one had used it in years.  Enormous gaps filled the sides of the house, and a fire had consumed the roof.

            "Link," Nacie spoke, awakening the Hylian to reality.  "I think we have a problem."

            "What?" Link asked, turning back to the Lake.

            "Those," she answered, pointing to two statues of men holding swords.  "Guardians of the Temple."

            "They're statues," Link answered.  "Nothing to worry about."

            "Then why are they looking like us like that?" Nacie asked.

            The eyes of the statues opened, revealing yellow, glowing spheres.  The statues, moving as quickly as any living thing swung their swords around in exact, synchronized motions, both ready to strike.

            "Nothing ever comes easy, does it?" Link asked.

~

**Next: Sages vs. Zelda's Army.  Link and Nacie vs. the Guardians**


	7. Pretty Soldiers all in a Row

Chapter 6

****

**_~ Pretty Soldiers all in a Row ~_**

****

(A/N:  Sorry I've been away for a while.  I was just re-reading my story and wanted to finish it.  I sincerely apologize as it has been so rude of me to stay away so long.  Looking over notes I made a while back, I realized the best stuff is yet to come.)

            The end of the spear, larger than Link's head and sharper than diamond, slid through the falling snowflakes, casting them aside with a gale wind that was as strong as the most powerful hurricane.  Link side-stepped the attack, throwing his arms back to slide by the point and shaft.  As the spear slammed into the ground, snow and earth alike shot into the air all the way to the mountains.

            Link swung his body around, sword tucked in tight to his chest and used the momentum to hit the statue as hard as he could.  The sword chipped the arm of the creature, then shattered.

            "Goblin junk!" he yelled as he turned to run away from his startled opponent.

            Nacie slid under the first sword of her opponent, and spun around as the second sword sliced straight down to the ground.  She slammed her dagger into the stone of the creature, slicing into it's cracked skin.  The creature did not even seem to notice.  It raised its arm, Nacie still hanging on by the dagger and flung her across the snowy sand.

            Link rolled across the sand, kicking up snow as he rolled, trying desperately to find anything he could to help.  The stone guardian stayed with him, thrusting with his spear again and again, trying to hit the agile Hylian.  Link's hand ran across a sharp rock sticking in the snowy sand and grasped it as he rolled away from the attack.  He swung his body around, and with a leap, shoved the jagged rock into the yellow sphere of the eye.

            Before Link even hit the ground, the creature roared in agony and sent a wave of magic so powerful, all around were thrown yards away from the creature.

            "What did you do?" Nacie yelled as she pulled herself from the snow, looking to the cloaked fighter.

            "It shouldn't have done much!" Link yelled as he held his head in his hands.  His cloak flapped in the wind and a trickle of blood fell from the edge of his eye as he looked up.  "I hit it with a small stone!  Their eyes may well be their weak point!"

            "We don't bloody well have time for this!" Nacie yelled, pulling herself to her feet.  The two guardians had risen, as well, though the wounded statue was still on one knee, holding its hand over its eye.

            Nacie twisted her dagger around, holding it parallel to her arm and pulled her cloak around the front of her body.  With a smile at the young Hylian, she darted forward, directly between the two beasts, both of whom took notice immediately.

            The wounded statue came to its feet, dropping the large spear it held and pulled out two swords.  Nacie rushed to its side and stopped, looking carefully at the creature and listening sharply for its friend.

            "Are you crazy?" Link screamed, jumping to his feet.  "Get away from them!"

            Nacie paid him no attention.  The first statue closed in on the two and viciously attacked the Gerudo thief.  Nacie, with such grace as even the best dancers could not imagine, dodged the attacks, then swung around the other two blades of the wounded statue.  Both creatures pulled back, then charged.  Nacie swung her arms aside and split her legs apart just as the swords crossed each other, slicing through both statues.

            The stones fell into three heaps each, and the yellow spheres rolled to the ground, the light fading immediately.

            Link stood still on the cold beach, his breath carried away on the wind.

            Nacie stood and winked at the young warrior.  "I told you before, hero, we Gerudo are more resilient than most would give us credit for."

            "I believed you before," Link responded, lifting one of the heavy swords of the statues.  "I just didn't understand how resilient you could be."

            The snowflakes dusted the red hair of the thief as she pulled the hood of her cloak up.  Her green eyes turned to the canyon, looking down to the temple and the great doors of the Water Temple.  Swirls of fog lifted from the icy pools of water that still remained trapped in the rocky basin, and the clouds passed by overhead in great clumps, emptying their snows more than ever before.  Distant black clouds to the north filled the horizon, rising from the volcano.

            "The door is covered over by ice, hero," Nacie said, running her smooth hand over the wet block.  "Magical ice.  It will take magic to break this block.  Magic I do not have."

            Link walked up, running his hand across the ice and peering carefully at the purple haze the water seemed to give off.  "I may have something that can help, though I'm not sure."

            The Hylian reached into his pouch and pulled out a small diamond-shaped pendant.  "I don't know if Din's fire burns anymore.  It failed long ago, as it was meant to be used only in these lands, but since I'm back, perhaps it will still work."

            Link closed his eyes and held the small diamond out before him, touching it to the ice.  He clutched his hand to his chest and whispered, "Goddess Din, if still you have any power, if still you care yet for your lands, lend me your power."

            For several seconds, the diamond did nothing.  Slowly, however, steam began to rise from the point of impact where the pendant touched the ice.  The steam became thicker and thicker, until, finally, fire burst from the orange glow that came from the diamond.  The ice melted, and the entrance opened.

            "Interesting," Nacie said, holding the pendant and looking carefully at it.  "If you have more toys such as these, perhaps we will yet defeat Nuerme."

            Link watched as the orange glow faded from the diamond.  "I've long since lost or sold almost all of my items," he said.  "This was the first real gift given to me by the great fairies, however, and that is why I keep it, however worthless it may now be.  As you've said before, if we must fight, it will be with little more than our minds and our bodies."

            Nacie smiled as she slid into the darkness.  "Then, hero, are you willing to follow me to depths of hell?"

~~

            Purple hues began to fill the city, as portals opened up between the burning houses.  Three-dimensional worlds seemed to collapse to two as matter simply opened up in a purple flash.  

            Snow again fell from the skies, sliding through the heavy black smoke and finding its ironically quiet journey come to an end in a bloody mess and a fiery town.

            Goblins began to pour through the portals spears raised and ready, and Wizrobes slowly floating over their heads. The crunching of the snow as they walked forward was only drowned out by the fires that roared and the armor that clanged.  The dog faces of the goblins were contorted, and drool fell from their lips.

            A flash of light shot to the sky from one of the Wizrobes, and instantly, the Goblins swarmed forward onto their enemy.  Zora rushed from the graveyard and the entrance of the city, knocking down the gates and rushing forward with their large spears.

            Tears fell from Zelda's ruby eyes as she looked around her, helpless to stop the attack.

            Rauru floated to the air and extended his arms.  A bright, blinding light came from his outreached hands, and beams of energy flowed through his arms, ripping through the attacking Zora at the graveyard.  "Go, Saria!" he commanded, "Escape through the shadow temple!  Protect the baby at all costs!"

            Impa and Nabooru screamed and charged directly at the goblins and Zora.  They sliced through the onslaught, distracting them enough for the young Kokiri girl to try to sneak by.

            Rauru let another blast from his arms as the Wizrobes closed in on the Kokiri and baby, but just as he let the attack go, an arrow struck his arm, causing him to cry out and fall to the ground.

            "Zora, I am your princess, and I command you to stop!" Ruto cried out in shock.  The Zora charged at her, fins raised to attack.  Their purple armor shined from the fires as they darted forward, and Ruto, never expecting them to actually attack stood still, looking at the strange armor.

            Two of the Zora charged forward, slicing down at her, but their fins slammed into solid stone.  They looked up to find Darunia smiling down at them.  "Two more Zora traitors!"  He flung his arm, sending the fish-like people flying through the air and slamming into the rocky walls.

            Horns began to sound as Hylian troops filled in ranks behind the Zora and Goblins.  They let a volley of fiery arrows fly, not concerned with who might get struck by their sharpened ends.

            The Hylian Cavalry charged through, slicing through Zora and Goblin alike, as well as charging the Sages.

            While Impa and Nabooru fight viciously, already their skin stained with the red and green blood of their enemies, Saria slipped through the entrance to the graveyard.  Arrows whistled past her head as she slipped through the entrance, trying desperately to hold on to the baby.

            Tears fell and whimpers escaped her mouth as she rushed out of the tunnel and into the graveyard.  Spirits began to rise from each grave, and lighting thundered down to the ground, melting snowflakes as they fell.  Saria suddenly fell forward, dropping the baby as something struck her head.

            Spots dancing before her eyes, Saria rubbed the back of her head and tried to look up to her assailant.  Purple eyes flashed from a yellow cloak, as a harsh laughter filled the air.

            "Where, exactly, do you think you're going, little one?" Sakura's voice filled the air.

            Saria cried out, reaching back with her hand as it began to glow with bright, green magic.  She summoned all the strength she had and began to throw an attack at Sakura.  The Squire laughed and kicked the Kokiri hard across her head before she could finish the attack, however, the ball of energy missing wildly.

            Sakura slowly walked to the screaming baby and kneeled over.  "Shhh," she whispered.  "Shhh, why must you cry so, my sweet?  Just think, wars are fought over you.  What woman wouldn't want that?"

            "None who seek peace, as this land has," a voice called from behind.

            Sakura turned slowly and laughed hard. 

            "Zelda?" she asked.  "So, you _are_ the Sheikah, huh?  I should have guessed."

            "I cannot let you take that baby," Zelda said harshly, pulling a dagger from its sheath on her arm.  "Give her to me."

**

            The final being to ride through the gates rode black armor, the helm of which covered his smiling face.  So much time had passed since the Knight had seen such carnage.  So long had it been since he last thrust his sword through and enemy.  "I'm beginning to like Hyrule, Duggan."

            "This scarred landscape, and these horrible atrocities are not the Hyrule that should be," Duggan answered, lifting his helm.  His weathered face was filled with grief as he looked out upon the carnage.  Bodies flew through the air as Durania threw his weight around.  Fiery arrows filled the sky and ground with their death and destruction just before the Cavalry charged through.  "This is no way to retrieve a simple child."

            "Come, now, Duggan," Bishop laughed, pulling his sword from its sheath and spurring on his horse.  "How can civilization evolve, without destruction?"

            Bishop charged past the archers and swung his sword upon the first goblin he came to.  The creature screamed as it fell to its final resting place.  More Goblins turned and attacked the black Knight.  Bishop quickly dispatched of each, and turned his attention to the Zora, throwing blasts of fire at them from his sword.

            "Infidel!" a harsh voice screamed.  Bishop turned just in time to see a large woman charging through the fight directly at him with a spear.  Impa screamed loudly as she thrust her spear forward.

            Bishop raised his shield and knocked away the attack, pulled out his sword and slashed at the Sage, slicing into her side.  Impa swept the spear back, crashing it over his magic armor and splitting it into splinters, but Bishop did not budge.

            The Knight smiled and kicked the woman, knocking her back to the ground where she passed out.

            "_Do you truly wish to be King?"_ a strange voice asked.

            Bishop looked left and right, but saw nothing.  "What?" he asked.

            "_If you truly wish to be a king, then bring me the baby," the voice answered._

            "Who are you?" he asked, smiling, looking around.  "What do you mean."

            _"Riches, women, absolute control, these are all yours, should you bring me the baby, Lord Bishop," the voice replied.  "__Bring the baby through the portals, and all will be yours."  _

            Bishop laughed, pulled his horse around to the graveyard and spurred it on, slicing through any creature along the way.

~

            "You would protect a baby that will be your downfall?" Sakura asked.  "Why not kill it, now?  Your father seems to be the one with any sense.  Destroy the baby, rule your lands."

            "The baby, regardless of what it may do one day, is still a baby," Zelda answered.  A strand of hair blew across her face, her hood blew in the wind as she stood, ready with her dagger.  "I would no sooner kill a unicorn than any baby.  Prophecies sometimes don't always come to pass.  I will fight only when I know what I am fighting."

            "Then it is as your father says," Sakura laughed.  "You are a fool.  I do not know why my master wishes to have you for a wife.  He must only believe you will be useful in bed."

            Zelda screamed and charged forward, fire ablaze in her eyes and her heart.  She sliced with her dagger, careful to not his the child, but Sakura parried the attack with her sword.  Zelda darted forward, slicing and attacking, but each time, Sakura parried or ducked.

            "You are gifted, Princess," Sakura laughed.  "But I have fought many better than you."

            Sakura swung her sword around and sliced into Zelda's shoulder.  Zelda pressed her hand to it, the sting of the wound was so sharp she almost passed out there.  Sakura attacked again, but Zelda threw her blade up, just knocking the sword away.  The two swung their bodies around, moving as gracefully as ballerinas, each careful not to strike the baby.

            Sakura stopped, stepped back, and threw a deku nut from her sword down to the ground.  Zelda covered her eyes and rolled away, barely missing the attack, but Sakura stayed on her.

            "You want to play tricks, huh?" Zelda asked, rounding on the snow and falling to one knee.  "I'll give you a trick unlike any you've ever seen!"

            Zelda held her dagger across her palm and closed her eyes, mumbling something under her breath.  A blue ball of energy formed at her hands, and a blast of energy hit the ground in front of Sakura, sliding under the snow, coming out behind the Squire, and slamming into the back of the Thief.

            Zelda caught the baby as it fell forward, and lifted her dagger, ready to strike the Squire down once and for all.

            Sakura reached to her boot, pulled a knife and dashed forward as Zelda attacked.  Sakura brushed aside Zelda's dagger with her sword, then stabbed the knife deep into Zelda's chest.

            Zelda's ruby eyes turned back to blue, and widened.  A small gasp came from her mouth as all began to turn white.  Blood spat out from Zelda's mouth, and her body began to fall forward, pressing against Sakura's yellow cloak.

            "But…" Zelda whispered, her body slowly falling down Sakura's.

            "Hush, hush, hush," said the squire, putting her finger to the Princess's mouth.  "Now, you will dream the dreams of kings."

            Zelda fell to the ground, the snow around her quickly turning red, as more explosions sounded out from the city.

            "You killed her?" a deep voice asked from behind.  "I did not wish this."

            Sakura turned and knelt, holding the baby carefully.  "I am…sorry, my lord.  I did not mean to…I only…"

            "Failure is not to be expected, Sakura," Bishop said harshly.  "Still, I suppose since this is the first time you have ever failed, I can look past it.  Bring me the baby and come with me."

            "Yes, my lord," Sakura answered.  "Of course, my lord.  Are we off to the castle?"

            "No," Bishop answered.  "We have better places to go."

~

            Bishop charged through the armies, rushing for the portals.  Wizrobes covered his retreat above, as Rauru, barely alive and awake, painfully exchanged attacks with the creatures.  Goblins and Zora finally gained the higher ground and pushed the Hylian soldiers back as portals again opened.

            "You will go no further!" Darunia thundered as he turned from a portal to face Bishop.  "That baby is meant to be with the Goddesses, and I will kill you if I must!"

            "You make me laugh," Bishop barked.  "You have no idea just how weak you are!"

            Darunia charged forward, his arms raised, but his attack never came.  Bishop raised his sword and whispered a spell.  Lightning blasted from the end of his sword, slamming the Goron through two houses and into the windmill, knocking the great tower down to the graveyard behind it.

            The army retreated through the portals, Hylian Knights slowly moving behind.  The sages all had major injuries, yet continued fighting.  As the last remnants of the retreating Goblins hurried through the closing portals, one Wizrobe, bigger and stronger than the others turned and raised its hand to the sky.  Powerful arcs of lighting reached down, sliding its currents across the ground, and knocking out all who were left standing in the blood-drenched town.

            Rauru's magic protected the sages, but at a cost of his conciousness.

            Finally, the last portal closed as the Wizrobe flew through, and the lightning came to a stop.  The burnt and smoking bodies of the dead filled the air with foul odors, and the Sages, unsure of whether victory had been achieved or not, turned to the Graveyard.

            "Darunia!" Impa called out, nursing the black eye she now had from Bishop.  "Darunia! Are you alive?"

            "Help!" a child's voice screamed.  Saria stood in the doorway of the Graveyard, blood trickling down the side of her face, and tears smearing the thick liquid.  "The baby's gone, and they killed the Princess!"

            The group hurried through the gateway, helping each other along.  Ruto and Nabooru carried Rauru, as Impa helped Darunia's wounded and chipped body stumble down the stairs of the mill to the entrance.

            Saria openly wept as she fell to Zelda's white face.  "Is she dead?" she weakly asked.

            "I do not know that even she, with all her powers can survive this," Rauru answered.  "But I shall try what I can to help."

            "We must hide," Impa said.  "Somewhere where they cannot find us.  Somewhere no one, not even the Goddesses can reach us."

            "No such place exists," Nabooru answered.  "Believe me, I have searched."

            "These graves," Saria answered.  "We cannot move Zelda far, so we should hide in these hidden graves."

            "Will the armies not come down on us, here?" Darunia asked.  "We can no longer fight, no matter our resolve."

            "If they wished us dead, they would still fight us now, even as we are wounded," Impa answered.  "The child is right, we should stay here."

            "Why have the goddesses forsaken us?" Saria asked, looking to the others.  "They said it would be easy.  Retrieve the child, and take her to the temple of time."

            "_Another has interfered," a light, soft voice called from above. _

            The group looked up to see the three goddesses floating gently in the air.

            _"All is not as was foretold."_

_            "Peace was to be here."_

_            "Another has come.  He will destroy all to make it as he wishes it."_

_            "It is Chaos.  Rau.  Nuerme."_

_            "For many names, has he."_

_            "Go there, we shall.  Handle this ourselves we will."_

The goddesses touched hands, and in flashes of light, disappeared into thin air.

~~

            "What is it?" Nacie asked.  "Are you okay?"

            Link brushed the sweat from his forehead and looked at the redhead carefully.  "I don't know.  Something's…missing.  Something's just not right.  I feel as though I'm suddenly…lonely."

            "I am here with you," Nacie answered, "You are not alone."

            "I…I know," Link responded.  "I just…it feels like a part of me is missing.  I can't explain it."

            "Can you go on?" Nacie asked.

            Link shook his head.  "Of course.  I just…just wondered what I was feeling."

            Nacie took the Hylian's hand.  "Sometimes when those close to us leave this realm, we feel their souls passing.  Especially those of us who are in touch with magic at all times.  I only hope this is not the case for you."

            Link nodded.  "I hope not, as well.  Come, let us move on into the temple."

~~

(A/N  sorry it has taken me awhile to get back to this story.  I hope it is as much fun for you to read as it is for me to write.  Next: Nuerme.)


	8. A Taste of Heaven, a Morsel of Hell

Chapter 7

****

**_~ A Taste of Heaven, A Morsel of Hell ~_**

****

            Drops of water fell from the ceiling, falling through the beams of light, and covering the steps of the two travelers as they waltzed into the temple, weary from their travels.

            "Not at all what I would have expected," Nacie whispered, as the two reached over the ledge and pulled themselves into the temple entrance.  "A little warm.  A little dry."

            Link's mouth dropped open as he took in the scene.  "It's…it's changed so much!" he whispered.  "There was a column, and doors, and passageways that made no real sense."

            The two stood in a bare room, only a few feet deep, filled with sand, and a river, starting from the walls and flowing through the middle of the room to the other wall.  It didn't seem to come from anywhere or go anywhere, but it flowed as fast as any river in the world.  The heat was intense, especially compared to the icy winds of the outside, and the two quickly stripped from their cloaks and hid them away.

            "Now, perhaps you see the power of Nuerme?" Nacie asked.  "His magics have changed entire parts of the world."

            "How do you know so much about him?" Link asked as he began to wade through the sand, which came to his knees before it was solid enough to hold his weight.

            "Because," Nacie answered, following slowly behind the warrior, "Nuerme is a legend.  Gerudo mothers scare their daughters with tales of Nuerme.  He is, essentially, to us, the devil, I suppose."

            "Well, your 'devil' is probably not as strong as some of the creatures I have faced in my travels," Link confidently answered.  "Tricks of the eye, such as this room are one thing, tricks of the sword, are another all together."

            "The current of the river is too strong, Hero, we'll have to hookshot across."

            "Hold tight, then," Link said, putting his arm around the Gerudo and pulling his weapon out.  He aimed carefully for the wooden boards at the door of the far end of the room.  His shot wedged in the boards and yanked the two across the river and sand to the end of the room.  The two landed lightly and brushed themselves off.

            "Hungry, Hero?" Nacie laughed.

            "What?" Link asked.

            "Your stomach was growling, I just wondered if you were hungry?" Nacie asked.

            "My stomach didn't growl," Link answered.

            "Then what was the noise I just heard?"

            The growling sound Nacie heard filled the cavern again.  Link looked up, hearing it this time.  The two turned slowly to the doorway, easing their weapons from the sheathes.  Two large, red hellhounds stood at the doorway, showing their teeth as they growled.

            Three more hounds walked up behind, baring their teeth at the sight of the humans.

            "Any suggestions, Hero?" Nacie asked, readying her dagger and lowering her stance.

            "Yeah," Link answered.  "Don't get bitten."

            "You're a real help," she responded.  "I'm not going to laugh, right now, though."

            "Probably better if you don't."

            The first two hounds shot forward with blinding speed.  Their barks shook the cavern as their large strides carried them to the two travelers in no time.  The first hound leapt to the air, pouncing down on Nacie.  The Gerudo, however, darted forward, thrusting her knife into the beast's chest as it came down.

            The second hound zig-zagged around, chasing Link down as he tried to flank around it.  The creature went low, trying to come under the Hylian's blade, but Link caught the creature's neck with his sword.

            The two turned, ready for the next attack, but no sooner had they turned, then they heard growling again from the beasts.  The two looked over their shoulders to see the hounds rising again, their wounds healing almost as quickly as they had been inflicted.

            "I think we're in trouble," Link whispered.

            "Try to act as though we're not," Nacie answered.  "Maybe they'll believe us."

            The hounds darted forward, all attacking at once, this time. Nacie spun and twisted, barely avoiding each attack. She sliced her blade again and again, but it felt to her as though she were simply hitting nothing at all.

            Link ran towards the door, slicing with his sword again and again, powerfully knocking the creatures back again and again, but they continued to get up and continue their attacks.  One of the creatures slammed into a wall and charged at Link from his left.  The dog hit the Hylian, knocking him and a torch to the ground.

            Link screamed as he thrust his sword all the way through the beast's neck.  The creature howled and ran back, biting at the sword handle to try to pull it the sword out.  The attack was successful, but it had left Link without weapon.

            Two other dogs rushed directly at the unarmed fighter.  Link desperately grabbed the torch that fell from the walls and jutted it forward, lighting the first hound on fire. As the other hounds watched, the creature screeched in agony as flames engulfed it.  The creature fell to the ground and exploded, the ashes disappearing to thin air as they flew up.

            Link turned and immediately set fire to the second dog, kicking it away.  As it exploded behind him, he pulled the sword from the third dog and set fire to it, as well.

            One of the dogs attacking Nacie, seeing the demise of its comrades, rushed away from the fighters, fearing for its life.  It rushed away from Link, unsure of where it was going, and quickly found itself washed up by the waters of the river.

            The final dog darted at Nacie, determined to finish her off.  Link turned and threw the torch through the air.  It spun around as it sizzled in the hot atmosphere in the room and struck the final dog in mid-stride, blowing it up instantly.

            Nacie lowered her arms and looked to the Hylian.  Catching her breath, she turned to the doorway and sighed.  "Perhaps you Hylians are more resilient than we Gerudos give you credit for."

            "Not all of us," Link answered, walking through the doors.  He stopped for a moment and looked around in shock.  "This place just keeps surprising me."

            The two were surrounded by fields of grass and trees under a blue canopy of sky.  Distant rumbling clouds thundered over rolling mountains, while butterflies fluttered through the tall weeds on either side of the two.  At different and somewhat random places, purple holes appeared, sweeping back into darkness, while one large blue portal sat at the end of the long pathway.

            Link looked over his shoulder, staring at the doorway that sat in the middle of nowhere, the temple still seen inside the doorway.  It was an odd sight, but one Link was not bothered by any longer, after all the sights he had laid eyes on through the years of travel.

            "Where do you suppose we should go?" Nacie asked, walking to the edge of the dirt path at the center of this strange world.  "Dare we try the portals and see where they lead?"

            "If our enemy possibly controls them, then he may well have it come out in the middle of the volcano," Link answered.  "Best not to slide through any of them.  Let us go for the blue portal.  It seems to be a way out."

            "Or it could be where waste is sent," Nacie smirked.  "Maybe it's blue as a way of warning to friends.  'Don't go here."

            Link ignored the Gerudo and carefully put his arm into the blue opening.  The air on the other side of the portal felt warm, so he reluctantly stepped through.  Within, a chamber, similar to the blue oasis of the chamber of time flowed before Link's eyes, except fires raged, and red water passed through red symbols.

            At the center of the room, an enormous stone throne sat, contrasting the busy movement of the room with its simplistic style.  Within the chair, a large figure sat, its head slumped in its hand, and its legs lazily crossed as feet touched the floor.

            The yellow face and red eyes of the human-looking creature were haggard, even bored.  Massive black horns grew from its head, which it wore a helmet upon, and black and purple armor adorned its body.  A great black cape twisted down the chair as he sat on it.

            "Get down, you fool!" Nacie whispered, yanking Link into the red waters that fell of the edge of the platform they stood upon.  Around the entire chamber hundreds of purple and blue portals opened and closed, and Nuerme, when he showed signs of conciousness, looked into different ones, taking a moment's notice of what was happening within.  "We don't want to be seen!"

            "I…I can feel him," Link whispered, eyeing the large creature.  "Power, or magic, maybe both, seem to flow from him."

            "Now that you've seen him, can we leave?" Nacie asked, looking quickly over her shoulders.  "This guy's got armies more numerous than you can imagine."  
            "All the more reason to strike," Link nervously answered, quietly drawing his sword.

            "Wait!" Nacie hissed, yanking the Hylian back down.  "Something's happening!"

            Neurme slowly rose to his feet, taking his enormous staff in hand.  His height was unreal, standing from his throne, he could easily see over the platforms sitting dozens of meters in the air.

            The portals began to swirl around and open up, as masses of soldiers, both zora and goblins began to pour through to the lowest platform, before assembling in front of Nuerme's feet.  Wizrobes flew overhead as Link and Nacie whisked around behind the portal, hiding carefully from the swarm below.

            The grumbles and growls, loud as they were, could not drown out a strange shrieking sound that did not seem to fit in with the other creatures.  As the portal swirld to a close, Link slowly edged out from behind the portal to look down below again.

            Nuerme kneeled, the room shaking with his every move.  "**_The Baby_**_?"_ he asked, holding his hand out over the army.

            A single black knight on horseback rode through the ranks, the shrieking coming from him, apparently.  A smaller figure walked quickly behind the rider, a yellow cloak flapping in the winds of the fires below as it walked.  Tufts of purple hair flittered out from its hood.

            Link shook his head.  "No, it can't be," he whispered.

            As he whispered, the figure in yellow turned her head and looked up, as though she heard his voice through all in the crowd.  Link lowered his head, but caught a glimpse of her purple eyes just before he pressed his face against he red water. 

            "Sakura?" he asked.  "How can they be here?  Why are they working for him?"

            "Who?" Nacie asked.  "Who are they?"

            "A Knight from distant lands, but how he came here so quickly is beyond me," Link answered. 

            "My prize?" Bishops loud, harsh voice called out to the demon, silencing the crowd around him.  "You've promised me a kingdom, ye have.  How do I know you will keep your promise?"

            Fires swelled within Nuerme's eyes.  "**_You have no choice, Knight, but to believe me.  I should strike you down, for such insolence.  Now, hand me the baby."_**

            "What do ye want with this 'ere pint size thing, anyway?" Bishop asked, holding the baby up.  Nuerme took the baby, smiling, a whiff of fire came from his nostrils as he laughed.

            "**_I care not for this baby, only for the guardians who will come to rescue it."_**

            "We have to get that baby," Link whispered, pulling out his hookshot.  "Whatever it is, it is far too important to be in the hands of that thing."

            "It is a baby, nothing more, Link," Nacie hissed.  "I care for it, too, but we cannot die for something that is already lost.  Don't be foolish!"

            "Foolish?" Link asked.  "I've never been more sure about anything I had to do in my life."

            Link waited for the loud fires to explode again and fired his hookshot, the sound drowned out by the fires.  He swung down to the back of the army, threw his arms around a goblin's neck and put his other hand on it's mouth as he dragged it back to a lower platform and knocked it out.

            They Hylian pulled on the Goblin's cape and helmet, knowing it would not buy him much time as he looked nothing like a Goblin, but a few second's head start was all he would need.

            Nacie slid across the water, ready to jump down, but before she could throw her feet around, the portal behind her suddenly came to life.  She rolled over and jumped to run around the portal, but it was too late.  Whatever was coming through could see her, now.

            Light from the other side was blinding, causing Nacie to cover her eyes with her arm.  Winds gushed through the portal, knocking the Gerudo down on her rear, splashing water as she hit.  Small floating lights floated randomly by, leaving different colored trails in their wake.  Two enormous, bright beings flew through the portal, ignoring the young woman and flying straight into the room.  A third being, a woman, emitting a blinding blue light from all portions of her body stopped in mid-air and looked down at the Gerudo.  

            Nacie slid her hand to her blade, unsure of what to make of the new being.  The blue woman smiled at her and flew off, to join the others.

            "_Interfered with the prophecies for gain,, you have, Rau,"_ the first goddess, Din spoke, her voice so loud, all save Nuerme and the other goddesses covered their ears.

            _"Suffer much, you must."_ The second Goddess Farore added.

            "Rau?" Nacie gasped, holding her hand to her mouth.  "It is true, then.  He is the god of the underworld."

            "**_Feel our wrath, you shall!"_** Nayru screamed, her blue form shimmering to a red hue.  The goddess's hair flailed around, as if alive itself, and her eyes blazed with fire.  She reached to the air with her hands, speaking an ancient language, then thrust her hands to the floor.  Blasts of lighting shot down from the unseen ceiling, ripping through the armies as they scattered and ran.

            Chunks of the platform lifted to the air as debris shot out in all directions, and fires swelled through the cracks.

            The other two goddesses, both turning dark red floated forward, throwing blasts of magical energy at the god, knocking him back with each attack.  Nuerme  countered, slamming Farore into the red waters behind her.  She splashed out, gigantic blobs of water crashing down on the fires below, and threw two more blasts of magic with her arms.

            "Link, the baby!" Nacie screamed, pointing from the platform to the wet and crying child lying precariously on the arm of the great chair.

            Link threw his helmet down and darted forward.  With a great leap, he reached the large platform just as several goblins charged at him.  He pulled his sword and sliced through them, easily knocking away attacks from startled and scared creatures.

            Lightning blasted through the troops, and the ground began to lift up as the section Link stood upon lifted to the air.  The Hylian jumped across two goblins' fallen bodies and grabbed a hold of the edge of the rising platform.  He swung his body around, threw himself over the fires and rolled with the landing below.

            Wizrobes scattered past his body as he lay flat, each throwing attacks at Nayru, who easily knocked the attacks aside.  She waved her hand, and fires consumed the creatures, their shrieks filling the air.

            Two goblins fire arrows at the goddess, barely missing her.  Link swung his legs around, kicking the first goblin to the ground and thrust his sword through the second and darted forward.

            Link fell forward as something hit him from behind.  His nose bloodied as he rolled around just in time to see a Zora raising its sword, ready to strike the Hylian down.  Link reached for his sword, but knew it would be too late.  The creature began to swing down with his sword, when Nacie landed on his head, slamming him down, then catapulted over Link, landing with grace on her feet.

            "Come _on!"_ she screamed, grabbing his hand.

            The two darted around the lighting as it ripped through the ground and jumped from edge to edge as the great rocks began to float away from each other on the river of lava.  Above, the goddesses waged war on the god, hitting his kneeling form again and again.

            Link yanked out his hookshot and put his arm around Nacie.  He shot wedged on the stone end of the chair, barely holding the two on as they were pulled up the side of the chair.

            Nacie pulled the baby up, pulling its wrappings away from her face as the baby cried out.  "Hush, child," Nacie whispered, drawing the child close to her face.  "It'll be okay."

            "We have to get out of here before everything comes down!" Link screamed, looking to the portals.  "Will those work for us?"  
            "They should work for anything, provided you come from this side!" Nacie answered.

            A scream filled the cavern, destroying entire platforms that floated in the air.  Link and Nacie looked over the arm of the chair, holding their ears painfully as trickles of blood fell from them.  

            One of the goddesses fell to the lava, her body smoking as she landed.  Her body began to dissolve as she sunk into the lava, and slowly, a bright glowing pyramid formed at the center of her body.  The first piece of the triforce sat where Din's body had been.

            Nuerme, now standing taller then he had ever before thrust his staff at Farore, firing a blast of energy straight through her body.  Her screams blew up the rest of the cracked platforms that had survived.  As her body slowly turned into the second triforce, the chair Link and Nacie stood upon began to bobble up and down in the flowing lava, as it was no longer on the platform.  

            The two fell to the seat, trying to hold on as the whole chair twisted and floated around. 

            "The Triforce!" Link screamed.  "I have to get to it before any of them do!"

            "How?" Nacie asked

            Link pulled out a red tunic and handed the hookshot to Nacie.  "Carefully, from stone to stone," he replied.  "If I fall, this should help me survive!  You get out of here with her!"

            "Link!" Nacie screamed.  "You can't!  Don't worry about them, it's too dangerous!"

            Link ignored the Gerudo as he pulled himself over the chair and looked to the lava.  Above, Nayru gave Nuerme everything she had.  She threw one blast of magic, twisting her body around and threw another with her other hand.  Each blast landed, slamming the god into the wall, but did little damage.

            **_"Becoming the Triforce has weakened you goddesses,"_** Nuerme laughed.  He lifted his staff and fired another shot.  Nayru dodged it, flipping backwards in mid-air as the blast ripped through the waters, slamming through the walls.

            Link took a big breath and jumped from the slowly sinking chair.  He landed on a small stone and used his momentum to keep jumping from stone to stone, rather than roll off into the lava.

            The Hylian danced from edge to edge, many of the small chunks sinking deeper into the lava until he at last reached the closest edge to the nearest triforce.

            A wave of magic ripped through the lava, and the platform Link was standing on thrust forward on the wave from the explosion.  Link edged down and grabbed the triforce, nearly falling out.

            Link laughed and held the triforce in the air, surprised at his own success.  That was when it all fell apart.

            An arrow sliced through the Hylian's chest, the head coming out through is sternum.  The pain was unbelievable, and the darkness at once overwhelmed him.  

            "Link!" Nacie screeched in horror.  She shot the hookshot to a chunk of floating platform and swung to the ledges near him, then jumped across the lava to the Hylian.  Still holding the baby and tears forming at her eyes, she pulled his body up.  "Link?  Are..are you okay?"

            The color began to leave Link's eyes, save for the red capillaries, which swelled up.  His skin lightened, and his hair turned silver, as he tried to look up to her.

            "Save…her," he whimpered as he tried to breath.

            Nacie yanked the arrow from his chest and looked at the end.  The green liquid on the end was the blood of an Ankou, deadly, and worse, metamorphic at the touch.  She threw the arrow into the lava and looked over the river to the edges where land still stood.  A Knight in black lowered his bow, a bright smile across his face.  "Don't reckon there's much time left for ye, lass!" he yelled just as he and the rest of the army disappeared behind the floating chair.

            Nayru let out a scream more tremendous then the other goddesses combined as she fell to the lava, the force of which shot great globs of molten rock crashing back down into the lake, and the ripples began to make the platform which Nacie stood upon sink again.

            Not far, now, the lava came to an end, and with the waters of the walls, it fell over the edge of the land into oblivion.  There was nothing left in the air for the Gerudo to hookshot to, and the portals were too far away for her to jump with the baby and the Hylian.

            She looked from one to the other, having to make a choice she wished she would never have to make.  Her hand swept down the Hylian's face as tears swept down her own cheeks.  "I am so sorry, hero.  I cannot make the choice.  The arrow had to make it for me."

            "That's it?" a voice called from behind.  Nacie pulled her dagger out and twisted around, coming face to face with a woman in a yellow cloak with purple hair.  "You give up so easily, fool."

            "I cannot carry both!" Nacie yelled as the edge became louder.  "Link is gone!  I must go!"

            Sakura reached into her pouch and pulled out purple dust.  She tossed it to the empty space between the portal and the platform, creating a clear bridge between the two.  "Hurry," she whispered in disgust.  "Take them both and leave before I change my mind."

            Nacie grabbed Link's arm and dragged him from the platform as quickly as her strength would allow.  She never looked back to the woman in yellow, and never questioned why she would help.  Nacie only rushed as quickly as she could through the portal.

            Behind, Nuerme lifted the three pieces of the triforce and forged them together with is own magics, and squeezed the two in his fist.  "**_Now, the world of the living and the dead are mine own."_**

            ~~~

            "Another portal is opening!" Darunia hissed.  "Ready your weapons!"

            The purple portal opened, and a Gerudo passed through, precariously holding something in her arms and dragging something behind her.

            "Now!" Impa yelled, and Darunia, Ruto, and herself charged over the graves, directly at the thief, weapons raised.

            Nacie dropped Link's arm as the portal closed and drew her dagger, ready for the new threat.  She parried away Impa's spear, and readied a counterattack, when the assailants stopped in mid-stride.

            "She has the baby!" Ruto gasped.  "H—how?"

            "Who _are_ you people?" Nacie hissed.

            "Nacie, it is all right, lower your weapon," Nabooru commanded as she stood atop a gravestone.  "These are friends."

            "Nabooru?" Nacie asked in surprise.  

            "Yes, Nacie, it is I," Nabooru laughed as she darted forward.  Impa took the baby and smiled as she checked it for injuries.  The baby giggled as it was tickled by the search.

            "Where are we?" Nacie asked.  "What has happened here?  Can you help my friend?"

            "Rauru, we have injured!" Darunia bellowed to the yard.

            "You are at the Kakariko graveyard," Nabooru answered.  "War is what has happened.  Hyrule Knights, Unknown goblins and hordes have waged war and attacked each other, as well as innocents."

            "Unknown?" Nacie asked.  "It is Nuerme!  He has come again!  The goddesses said he interfered with a prophecy or something."

            "By the goddesses," Rauru gasped as he floated over the fallen warrior.  "Could it be?"

            "He was struck by Ankou blood!" Nacie cried.  "He's changing into one of those fowl creatures, we have to help him!"

            "It is the hero of time," Rauru whispered quietly.

            "LINK!" Saria screamed as she rushed from the grave opening to the field.  She threw her crying body across his wounded chest, wailing and beating his arm.  "Link, you can't leave us!  Not now, not after all that has happened!"

            "You know him?" Nacie asked.  "What is going on?"

            "Get him to the grave.  We will have to summon some powerful magic to help him and the Princess."

            The very ground began to shake.  Slowly, at first, but then the vibrations became worse.  The group turned and looked out to the horizon, over the fallen windmill and to the field of Hyrule.  Lightning bursts flashed through the lands, and mountains began to thrust through the grounds, ripping and changing the land.  What was left of the horse stables was swallowed whole into a pit which instantly turned to fire, and the clouded skies began to swirl and open up.

            Blue and purple portals began to swirl all through the countryside as demons and long dead warriors rushed through, immediately causing havoc and destruction with anything they could find, even each other.

            Death mountain exploded, raining rocks and lava down on the peoples below, and roaring floods blasted out from the Zora caves.  The Kokiri forests were ablaze, and Hyrule castle crumbled as another castle, floating over a pool of lava took its place.

            "Rau has complete control, now," Rauru whispered.  "He is reshaping the entire world."

            "Can any of us survive this?" Ruto asked.  

            "I don't know, but if we do not bring the Princess and the Hero of time back from their dance on the edge of death, then we will definitely fail."

            "We should hide within the grave chamber, friends," Impa said, watching as large chunks of rock crashed down around them.  "We will not survive long out here."

~~

Next:  **What Dreams may Come**

*R&R, please?  I would love to know what you all think.


	9. What Dreams May Come

Chapter 8

****

~ What Dreams May Come ~

            The richness of the purple sky above was difficult for Link to understand at first.  It was so deep, so dark, yet so beautiful.  Clouds danced across the sky, reaching past each other in a waltz that was as unforgettable as it was disturbing to the young man.

            Link reached for his sword, pulling it out as he looked around the alien landscape.  Large, golden oak trees dotted the flat lands as far as the eyes could see.  The flat grasses were occasionally interrupted by the soft rolling mountains, and the sun slid by the horizon, bringing great red hues through the sky.

            "You will not need that, here," a familiar voice said calmly.

            Link slid his sword high in defense as he spun around, ready for an attack.  The young girl standing before him did not react, though. Her bright smile filled the young man with happiness, though.

            "Saria?" Link asked.  "Wh—where am I?"

            "This is the place of dreams, I suppose," she said, walking past the Hylian to look out at the landscape.  "Your dreams, I believe."

            "My dreams?" Link asked, shaking his head.  "I've never seen anything like this."

            "Oh," Saria smiled.  "Well, then, this place must belong to someone else.  I wasn't sure who's dream I would find my way into first."

            "What?" Link asked.  "What are you talking about."

            "It's rather complicated," Saria answered.  "You know, magic things and the like.  You're looking a lot better.  You see me, now, that's good, because a while ago, you could do nothing except writhe in pain."

            "A while ago?" Link asked.  "What are you talking about.  A while ago, I was dead.  I was in another realm, with an arrow through my chest."

            "The Ankou Blood," Saria answered, her smile fading as she mentioned it.  "The arrow you had was adorned with Ankou Blood, though I do not know where it came from.  Rauru told me that the blood of Ankou turns you into one of those ghastly beasts, if ever you touch one."

            "Ankou?" Link asked.  "What's an Ankou?"

            "Dark creatures from dimensions far from here," Saria answered.  "They now float or ride through the countryside of Hyrule, Termina, Asyria, and many other places you've been.  They're fighting for Rau, and they're slaughtering people the world over."

            "Wait," Link said, turning to his friend.  "I know of these 'Ankou.'  The people of Numeos call them 'Dark Wind.'  They were corrupted spirits inhabiting watchtowers and threatening churches.  I first met a Knight named Bishop there.  He and I destroyed them, but it took all we had.  And he was the one who used it on the arrow that killed me, I suppose."

            "Rauru has been able, with great costs, to heal you from your injuries, but there is another he has not been able to help," Saria said.  "Her injuries have been helped, thanks to some herbs and potions, but she is not willing to come, yet.  Perhaps you can help us."

            "Saria, this isn't really what I do," Link answered, following closely behind.  "I'm not the best talker in the world.  If someone is attacked, send me in, but here, in this world, I just don't know how to convince people that they want to live."

            "Is it because of your own fears for life?" Saria asked.  "For some time, now you've wished to die in battle, have you not?  You've wished to throw away the chains that hold you in this nomadic life and find what's truly out there.  Why you're doing what you do, are you not?"

            "What do you mean?" Link asked.

            "Perhaps, in all your journeys, what you were searching for was here all along, and you simply couldn't see it," Saria answered.  "You knew, the first time you saw her, and again when you were grown, what she meant to you.  You knew that and you were scared.  You couldn't lose her, so you ran."

            "I…had to go," Link answered.

            "And now, she feels as though she must go," Saria countered.  "Go.  Help her see that she shouldn't.  Perhaps you may well find in this dream what you've been looking for all these years."  
            Link sighed and turned, looking through the trees to a pond, where the water was as clear as anything he had ever seen.  Blossoms and golden leaves fell from a few trees, floating across the waters, and a lone figure stood at the edge of the waters, her face in her hands.

            Link didn't know what he would say when he reached her, or even if he could say anything.  He wasn't afraid of her or for her, simply…he felt guilty.  

            The young man summoned all the courage he could muster, for he found this far more scary than facing down a dragon or running through forest with peahats chasing him.

            As he came closer, the soft cries filled the air, and the beautiful landscape was forgotten around Link.  He stepped on the soft grass, startling the young woman.  She jumped up, and in a moment, was covered in armor and carrying a heavy sword, raised and ready.

            "Who are you?" she screamed.

            "Easy, easy," Link answered, waving his hands down gently.  "Do you remember me?"

            "I don't know you," she answered.  "You look…familiar, but…I…I just…don't remember anything."  
            "Perhaps you remember this?" Link asked, pulling out a small, blue ocarina.  Softly, he began to play through the instrument a soft tune, a lullaby, long remembered from days past.

            "L…Link?" Zelda asked.  The great armor that adorned her body faded away in whisps of smoke, and she stepped carefully forward, strands of blonde hair blowing gently in the breeze.    She put her hand to her mouth, carefully looking at the young traveler before her.  "Link?  It can't be you…If you're here, then you're…"

            "Dead?" Link finished, smiling.  "No, I'm not dead.  Neither are you.  However, we're not really living, either, are we?"

            "Where are we?" she asked, looking around.  "What is this place?"

            "I thought maybe you would know, since this is your dream," Link answered, looking around.  "Perhaps this is a place you know of, or have dreamed of in the past."

            Zelda, looking around, accidentally bumped into Link and gasped, jumping back.  "I'm so…so sorry!" she whispered.  "I'm just not…"

            "What?" Link asked, pressing her.  "You're not as I remember.  You were sure of yourself when I left.  Even when you were Shiek—"  
            "Shiek was another life, Link," Zelda interrupted.  "That never happened, don't you know that?"

            "Of course it happened!" Link answered.  "Gannondorf is locked away in another dimension!  How could he be there without our efforts?  Shiek lives within you still, whether you had the training or not."

            Zelda looked down to the ground, trying not to catch the gaze of the young man.  "Let go of this doubt that is consuming you, Princess, and be what it is you were always meant to be!  Be a leader."

            "So…what you are saying is that I should not run," she replied after a moment's thought. "As you did."

            Link looked to the setting sun, his turn to avoid her gaze.  "That was different," he clumsily replied. 

            "How?" she asked.  "You're not royalty, so when things got tough, you ran away."

            "I didn't run," Link answered.  "I…I was called.  I searched the planet."

            "For what?" Zelda asked.  "What could you have searched for?  I would have given it to you!  I would have sent our armies out through the world to find whatever it was you were searching for!"

            "I was searching for you!" Link barked back angrily.  "The real you.  You live the life of a Princess, and will one day be a Queen!  The people deserve a King, not a fool with a fairy."

            "What about me?" she asked quietly, turning away from the Hylian.  "What about what we needed?"

            Link looked out to the sun, watching as the bright rays danced along the treetops to the lake.  He turned to try to talk again, but was startled.  Just as he turned, she met his arms and threw her own around him, resting her head against his shoulders.

            "I…I would die for you," Link responded, trying to think of what to say.

            "I know," Zelda answered.  "But would you live for me?"

            Link leaned down, as the two closed their eyes, his lips searching for hers.  He could smell her perfume, a luxury most women didn't get in this time and age.  Her soft skin pressed against his cheek as she rubbed the back of her hand down it.

            The sun suddenly went dark.  Link opened his eyes and looked away.  The realm was changing.

            "What is going on?" he asked.

            Zelda opened her eyes and stepped back from the Hylian.  "No," she gasped, looking from tree to tree.  "He can't—it isn't possible.  This is another realm, he couldn't have traveled here!"

            "What?" Link asked, looking around, trying to search out what Zelda was searching for.  "What is it?"

            Zelda grabbed Link's hand and yanked him forward, rushing through the trees as the starless night consumed the day.  Thunder began to roll, and winds kicked up.  Below, Link could feel the weeds beginning to grow and pull at their clothes.

            "What is happening?" Link asked, but Zelda did not reply.  She hurried them through the trees, the leaves cutting their faces and arms as they rushed.  Link pulled his sword, cutting through the weeds that tentacled out to them.

            The two hid rushed through a cave opening, then fell to the floor as hundreds of bats swarmed through the entrance.  Link looked up to find two red eyes staring back at him from the ceiling of the cave.  A blue light formed near it, and a strange demon smiled, his face illuminated by the light of the glow.  He tossed the light at the two Hylians, who jumped apart from one another just as it exploded on the floor.

            "What in the goddess's name is that, Princess?" Link asked.

            "I do not know!" she cried, hiding behind a boulder and crouching down.  Tears streamed down her face, and she covered her ears with her hands.  "He haunts my dreams, he tries to—to do horrible things!"

            A fire was at once lit within Link. His heart ached with the pain of rage.  "A dream demon," he whispered, looking up to the pair of eyes looking back down.  The creature laughed at him.

            _"Yes, little one, I know of you,_" the demon hissed.  His green, bald head and pointy ears gave him the appearance of a hobgoblin from the Ancient forests of Marui.  "_Vanquished us, many, you have.  Fear, instilled within us you bring.  Death, reward you will find, here."_

            "I destroyed your leader," Link answered, his sword raised.  "Two years ago, I in Marui, I hunted you down and destroyed all that inhabited the lands.  Without your leader, you were powerless to feed from dreams."

            "_In death, little one, we have found a powerful ally,"_ the demon replied.  "_Throuh him, powerful, we become.  Fear, we instill, now, in even the strong."_

"Then death, you will find here, again," Link hissed, drawing his sword.  "Even your great ally will find the end of a sword, then all will be gone forever from this realm."

            "_Mistaken, you have become, little one,"_ the demon laughed, raising his hand.  The ceiling began to warp, and twist around, before finally opening up, allowing the large demon to stand tall in the sky.  "_Destroy our leaders, you did, in your own dreams, when controlled world you did.  Here, little one, control the dream you not.  Dream the dream, you not."_

            Link slowly turned to the crying Princess, her blue eyes hiding in her arms.  He jumped to her side and pulled her to her feet.  "Zelda!" he yelled.  "You have to snap out of it!  You're the only one who can defeat it."

            "_Try you not, little one,"_ The demon interrupted.  "_Long, my magics have worked to take away her strength.  She is nothing but fear, now.  Death will welcome her after it brings you."_

            Link looked up to the tall creature, turning and readying his sword.  The demon reached down and slammed his hand across the Hylian, sending him flying through the cave walls and painfully landing in the grass outside. 

            Rains poured down, heavy drops falling on Link's face as he winced in pain.  His sword was a few feet away, and as he reached for it, a howling began to fill the air.  Link grabbed his sword and rolled to his knee, ready for any attack.

            Red, sharp eyes filled the darkness.  Wolves were ready to strike.

            Zelda looked from the cave entrance, staring out at the young soldier alone.  Fear had overwhelmed her, and she could not see straight, much less react to the sight.

            _"Helpless you are,"_ the demon, now smaller than the Princess whispered into her ear.  _"They do not believe you.  They think you will never be good enough to rule them.  There is nothing you can do to help him."_

            The first wolves jumped through the trees.  Link slashed and hacked as hard as he could through the rains, but the wolves stayed just out of reach, taunting him as he backed slowly towards the lake.  "Zelda, help me!" he called.

            Zelda reached her hand to her mouth, Link's cries barely audible to her.  _"Forget him, it is death you seek, Zelda.  Death will welcome you.  Death will send you to the only place you will ever find solace again.  Death will find your loved ones."_

            "Loved ones?" Zelda asked.

            _"Yesssss,"_ the demon hissed.  "_Your loved ones are near.  Go to them."_

            "Love?" she asked again, standing up, her body slowly beginning to find its composure.

            Link dodge to the side, another wolf barely missing as it swung its massive claws at the young man.  The warrior swung his blade, knocking the wolf back, but finding little happiness in defeating the first of hundreds of wolves.  He stepped back, his foot finding the edge of the water.  He looked over his shoulder to the water, when a wolf darted forward and knocked him in.

            Link lost his sword and fell back into the deep, cold water.

            "Love?" Zelda asked again, walking forward into the rains.  Her hands fell to her side, and her strides began to get longer.

            _"Going, where are you?"_ the demon shrieked.  "_Help him, you cannot!  Loved ones you must go to!"_

            "Love?" Zelda asked for the last time.  "I must go to the one I love!"

            The pack of wolves stood before her, all charging towards the lake.  A few took notice, but ignored the Princess.  They were so tightly packed, she could not move through them.  Zelda reached out and flung her arms apart.  The wolves violently flew apart from one another.  A path opened as the wolves yelped and ran.

            Zelda's wet dress was quickly replaced with the heavy armor she had wore before as she darted through the trees to the lake.  "Link!" she screamed.

            Tentacles reached from the water, one of which had the Hylian in held high.  Link screamed and flailed his arms around, trying to grab a hold of anything he could get.

            "No!" Zelda screeched, swinging her sword as hard as she could at the beast.  A beam of magic shot out from the end of the sword, ripping the beast in two.  Link fell to the water with a great splash. 

            Zelda reached out with her hand and pulled Link from the lake, using strength she didn't know she had.  Link lazily smiled as she pulled him close to her.  "Took you long enough," he mumbled as he tried to find his footing.

            "I…I love you," she said, her eyes looking almost through the young man.  "You can't leave!"

            "Okay, but you have to tell him that," Link answered pointing back to the mountain.  "I don't think he's too happy, right now."

            Sitting atop the mountain, the demon roared, his fiery wings now extended, and his red eyes furiously focused on the two.  "_I tried to help you, little one,"_ the demon hissed._  "Now, kill you I must."_

            The sun pulled up over the horizon, sitting below the dark clouds.  The contrast in darkness and sunlight was striking, and the battle between the two minds began. 

            Zelda laid Link down to the ground and turned, her armor brighter and stronger than ever before.  She drew her sword and readied her attack.  Looking carefully at the great demon on the mountain she focused on his red eyes.  "You will not hurt me anymore."

            The demon screeched and thrust its spear down at the young woman, the fury and power of which set the trees of the landscape ablaze.  Zelda did not budge.  The fiery spear slammed into her armor and shattered as the earth quaked, and the ground split apart.  

            Zelda raised her arms, quelling the fires of the land and clearing the skies of the clouds.  The purple sky and the bright sun brought pain upon the demon, causing it to try to hide in the mountain.

            Zelda opened her hands, and the life of the forest returned, butterflies again flying, the trees blossoming, then turning to leaves.  She pressed her hands together and opened the mountain which hid the demon.  Opening them, the mountain separated, exposing the demon to her wrath.

            The Princess drew her sword charged forward, and with a scream as loud as any that could ever be heard, thrust her sword through the demon.  "Never again," she hissed, looking into the fading light of the demon's eyes, "will you ever harm another living thing!"

            The demon evaporated into nothingness, leaving all plains of existence.

            Zelda opened her eyes and looked to her right, suddenly realizing she was no longer in her dream world, but on a tabletop.  Her outstretched hand had taken Link's as he slept, and tears began to fall from her face.  

            For the first time in a long, long time, Zelda felt free.  That which held her back no longer blocked her heart.  Her thoughts were her own, and nothing would stop her, now.

            "It is good to see you awake, friend," Saria whispered as she took her hand from Zelda's and sat back in her chair.  "We all have our own magic, and that was mine.  I am glad to have witnessed all you could do."

            "The baby?" Zelda whispered.

            "Rest," Rauru interrupted as he came by.  "Your body is still weak.  Enjoy the dreams that are your own, now.  When you wake in the morning, we will find the time to talk."

            Zelda looked to Saria who whispered, "The baby is fine, do not worry.  Rest."

            The Princess smiled as she closed her eyes and let exhaustion pass over her.

~  
  


Next:  How to fight a God?

(A/N This is the end of the first act.  The book will change somewhat from here, with the world changing a great deal, and the enemies more powerful than before.  The group will have to fight bosses, armies, and eventually Nuerme/Rau.  The feel of the book will stay the same, though.)


	10. Regrouping

Chapter 9

~ Regrouping ~

            Dark, massive clouds rolled through the lands, beams of light breaking through the few openings between the clouds.  Mountains jutted out from the ground throughout the fields of Hyrule, and a once familiar landscape had all but vanished.  The young traveler had returned home, only to find it wasn't what it once was.

            Link stood in the knee-deep snow, his tunic and top removed, exposing the wrappings and bandages that helped to heal his wounds.  His strength not yet returned, the Hylian stood and watched as the world was re-shaped before his eyes.  The others had left two days ago, traveling in the most inconspicuous ways they could find, either through magic or hidden passages.

            Zelda was below, her mind and body slowly returning from the damage the dream demon had inflicted through the years of torture, with help from Rauru.  Saria watched and tended to Isis day and night.  "Isis" was the name Zelda had given the child, a name of an ancient goddess of a far off land, that somehow seemed appropriate.

            An evil energy swept through the land, causing pain to all who were sensitive to such feelings.  Fiery stones continued to rain down from the skies, burning through the clouds, remnants of the volcano.  A purple fog feel at night, poisonous to all good beings who breathed it in, and the monsters and demons continued to flood through from the lands of the dead to this side.  Creatures Link vanquished long ago from lands throughout the world were free to once again take their chambers and spread their poisons.

            An unmistakable energy emerged, not long ago as Rau opened not only barriers between living and dead, but dimensions, as well.  Link's eyes turned to the distant castle of Hyrule, where, once again, the floating castle that had been destroyed five years ago stood.  The power that had created the castle had returned, and once again controlled the beasts and demons of the temples.

            "To think," whispered Link, despair filling his heart, "in one fell swoop, all I've ever done in my life has simply vanished.  If nothing more, I have simply helped these grand armies conquer by bringing them together."

            "Darkness has grown more powerful, hero," Rauru said as he floated up from the gravestone.  The group had been fortunate so far that the graveyard had been mostly overlooked.  "I wonder, have the forces that vanquished these beings become more powerful, as well?  You cannot blame yourself for this, Link.  This is the culmination of events that have begun long before your soul came into being.  You are but a pawn of good, fighting for all you can, but ultimately, it is the gods and goddesses that control our fate."

            "I've never believed that," Link responded, looking down to the snow.  "Pawns we may be, but in the right conditions, the pawn can be the most powerful piece in the game."

            Rauru smiled.  "You use the word 'we,' Hero.  For this, I am glad.  I worried you would not realize that you could not fight this one alone."

            "The one named Sakura—a squire to the Knight Bishop--once said something intriguing," Link said, looking up from the snow to the countryside.  "She told me that it was time people started to fight for themselves.  It was time to stop relying on mystical dragons and powerful spirits to roam the countries and time to start rallying ourselves together.  Perhaps, though it shames me to admit it, she was right."

            Rauru did not reply.  He stared out at the countryside, as well as a patch of sunlight rode over the two.  Finally, he looked to the grave and said, "She is healing.  She has not been herself for some time.  Sure, she could think and act for herself, but doubt and fear dominated her.  It is amazing she found the courage and strength to do the things she did."

            "I've always said she was an amazing woman," Link answered with a smile.  "If anyone could bring peace to these lands, she can."

            "Peace," Rauru repeated, "is a word thrown around much, but I do not know if most people understand what it means.  We were destined to struggle.  And it is easier to struggle with weapons than with words."

            "Then perhaps it is time to find beings who can teach us how to struggle with words, rather than with swords," Link answered.  "But first, we must make a world where people will be able to."

            Red, blue, and green lights floated overhead, as the came to the shadow temple entrance at the end of the graveyard.  Link and Rauru watched as they landed, and noticed several people sliding through the graveyard entrance with horses as they tightly closed the gates behind them.

            "They are returning, safely, praise the triforce," sighed Rauru, lifting his hands to the air.  "Let us help them back in."

            Ruaru turned and floated to the temple to help Durania, Impa, and Ruto down from the shelves, while Link continued to stare at the new castle of Hyrule. Nabooru whistled as she walked by and winked at the topless soldier.  "I found someone who claims to know you along the way," she said, pulling her horse around.  Behind, a large, brown horse whined loudly, and an awkward, haggard Goron fell from the saddle.

            "Epona?" Link asked, turning to his horse.  "Rook?  How did you make it all the way here?"

            Rook shook snow from his armored body as he stood.  His knees rattled together as they shook, and his teeth chattered from the cold.  "The—the lands of Alysia are gone, my friend.  The—the dragon of Nurk-al Tah came back, and with an army of demons, destroyed the lands, killing any who resisted, and enslaving any others who did not fight.  I…I escaped only because your horse was faster than the dragons' wings."

            "I found him crying in the woods of Termina," Nabooru said.  "The floods were ravaging those lands, and your magnificent horse was having difficulty making it through.  We were able to help.  We also found these," she added, throwing a pouch to the young Hylian.

            Link opened the patch and found it full of old maps, money, keys, and old, useless items never used.

            "Let us withdraw within the graves," Impa called out.  "We've gone through great difficulty to not be found, let us not stand here and put all those efforts to waste."

            Link put his arm under the Goron's and helped him down the long stairs.  "I am glad you are okay," Link said.  "But, I am afraid you may have only delayed the inevitable by coming here."

~~

            The world seen through new eyes, even when your site is of an underground cavern in a graveyard, can be a rather wonderful experience.  Things one may never notice, such as the beauty of other people's eyes, or the way lighting falls across another's face jump out, begging to be noticed.

            The rooms of the dungeon had been sealed up, the enemies within destroyed, and a temporary camp had been set up.  Contacts with surviving races and peoples had been made through channels even Zelda did not understand.  It seemed to her as if the sages had a backup plan in case the world were to ever come crashing down.

            The sages and travelers had returned a few hours ago, and began resting, eating, finding their feet after many treacherous journeys throughout the lands.  The worlds they had seen Zelda could only imagine.

            "Hello, 'sister," a soft voice giggled from behind the Princess, snapping her back to her dungeon room.  Zelda turned to see Princess Ruto walking into the murky chamber, carrying clothes and armor that had been brought to her.  "I am happy to see that you're doing well.  Of course, it may take some time to regain your complete strength."

            "This armor comes from Uruk," Ruto continued.  "One of my Knights, one of the few who still follows me and not my father and brothers, brought this from his journey through their lands.  He said the humans of those lands wear these, and well, I figured, as much fighting as we have ahead of us, you may well need them.  They will protect you better than your 'Shiek' outfit."

            Zelda rose and turned to face the Princess.  "Thank…Thank you, Princess Ruto," Zelda whispered, feeling through the purple and black armored dress.  She held a sheathed sword from the bed and pulled it from its shaft.  It was a long, light sword, magically crafted, with no guard, but a crafted bend in the handle for quicker swinging.  It was a weapon made for women to use stealthily, and had the engravings of a distant language across the handle.  "It's beautiful," she said.

            "My Knight said it was of the finest quality," Ruto continued.  "He saved a child from drowning, and was given several treasures, this among them."

            "I have no doubts it will serve me well," Zelda said, turning to the engraved wall.

            Ruto smiled and turned to walk back to the main chamber.

            "What happened?" Zelda asked.

            "I'm sorry, milady?" Ruto asked, turning back to the room.

            "How did it all fall apart?" Zelda asked.  "I had my own demons to fight with, but how…how could I have been so blind.  How did this happen?"

            "To tell you, Princess, it would take the greater part of the day, I suppose," Ruto answered.  "And I know only of my side of the story.  I…I don't really know how it all came to be."

            "Please, stay," Zelda said, motioning to the bed to sit.  "I want to hear."

            Ruto smiled and sat at the end of the bed, pulling her cloak a little tighter around herself.

            "I suppose it started about four years ago," Ruto began.  "With Gannondorf gone, and most of the monsters of the realm away, our people could focus more on our own needs.  The fishing crops, de-frosting parts of the lake in the winter, keeping our gods happy, among many other things.  We really didn't take notice of the outside world.  I mean, relations were fine with Darunia, and the brotherhood of sages would always keep us all close.  Especially since we seemed to be the only ones who could remember the trials and tribulations of Gannon.

            "Peace reigned, and the people, in only one year, became lazy and bored.  Bickering and corruption among the grander leaders of not only Hyrule, but other parts of the Empire began to cause alarm.  Sects of our people threatened to leave, while others began to fight with each other. 

            "Just when things seemed to get really bad, a human walked into our caves.  He wore a black cloak and smelled of sulfur, but he was wounded, so we helped him.  It turned out that he was a Wizard, or so he claimed.  He promised my father, in return for helping him, he would give my father powers beyond belief.  Our people could be united, our lands away from Hyrule secure, and any who would oppose us would tremble in fear at our armies."

            "And this promise, it was limited," a deep, grumbling voice interrupted.  Zelda and Ruto turned to see Durania standing at the doorway.  "Take my hand, now, and absolute power will be yours.  You will have all you need, and be remembered forever."

            "Right," Ruto nodded.  "I begged father not to take it.  We did not need this power.  If it was meant to be that we should fall, then let it be, but do not accept dark power, even for good means.

            "Father called me foolish, and told me I had no real understanding of how to be a leader."

            "The Zora, you must understand, were having a great deal of difficulty," Durania added.  Several others had come into the room and began listening, as well.  "We tried to help, but often, our help was seen as interloping, so we stayed away."

            "The lakes, the nesting spawn banks were not producing as they should have been," Nabooru said from the corner she stood in.  "We watched from our mountains, unsure of whether or not to take the spawn and raise it ourselves.  The Zora almost seemed to be ignoring them."

            "It was not intentional," Ruto said.  "I, myself, tried to go and help them, but other factions stopped me, saying I was trying to raise our children to be brainwashed fools."

            "This wizard," Link asked, standing in the doorway, watching as all the others had gathered in the room.  "Did he convince any others besides the Zora to accept his powers?"

            "The Goblin King, of course," Nabooru answered.  "That was the first, and the easiest.  We have kept them at bay for centuries, but with the new powers granted the king, they worked with Hylian soldiers to raid our fortress and slaughter many innocents."

            "This wizard used other means, as well," Impa added.  "As with the Zora, through many lands, now, he capitalized on problems within the masses.  If there were no problems, then he created them.  With the King of Hyrule, it was not difficult.  The death of his wife, the sanity of his stepdaughter in doubt, and then rumors of a baby coming soon, who would overthrow the royal family began to come about.

            "It was only a matter of time until a man who was hurt was taken in by the kind royal family and in return offered powers beyond belief."

            "Even the strongest of minds have difficulty with dream demons," Link said from the back of the room.  "It is quite possible that these were used by the 'wizard,' as well, especially since the alliance of Rau and the demons of the afterlife."

            "Why is that I never met this 'wizard?" Zelda asked.  "My memory has no recollection of him at all."

            "My Princess," Impa answered quietly and hesitantly, "There were…times…you were not with us at all.  Your body and face were here, but…your mind was not at all with us.  What's more, when you did have enough sanity to stay with us, we…kept you from him to keep his influences from you.  Furthermore, the way your father was, had the wizard laid eyes on you, he may well have wanted you for his bride, and this was not acceptable."

            "What happened to the wizard?" Link asked.

            "He simply…disappeared," Rauru answered.

            "He would show up from time to time, and order father to do something," Ruto added.  "The consequences would be disasterous if he did not follow through."

            "It was when I would not accept his offer that it all began," Darunia said, standing tall beside the torch, casting a shadow over the group.  "He pointed his finger at me from under his cloak and said in his dark voice, 'Ye shell pay."

            "The next day, he showed up and ordered father to send floods into the mountains, using the powers granted to him, and to rally the armies together for a war," Ruto added.  "When father told him he would not, the Wizard attacked him, turning him into a mindless creature who says and does whatever the wizard wanted.  Our people, fearing the powers of father, and of the wizard, follow them.  Great battles have been won over the Goron, despite the cost, and our people now rally around father.  Except for a few.  When I spoke out against father, I was at once sentenced to death.  Three brave Knights fought through the water temple and freed me.  Two paid for the deed with their lives."

            "This wizard, Nuerme, as he came to be called by the Gerudo, pulled strings where he had to, using armies to destroy those who would not ally with his ideals," Rauru said.  "Fights almost broke out amongst the sages, and I was only just able to stop some here from killing others."

            "The Goddesses appeared before us, however," Saria whispered as she came in, carrying the sleeping Isis.  "They told us that the time had come for the new baby to be born."

            "Did they not know of Nuerme?" Zelda asked.  

            "They have been within the triforce since the dawn of time, Princess," Rauru answered.  "They knew not, and we, in all our awe of getting to witness the miracles of the goddesses, never questioned them.  We knew that if we listened to them, the baby would be born, and peace would once again take this land."

            "You were never to be harmed, Princess," Saria said.  "You were to be set free.  You were destined to be with the one you chose.  Things didn't quite work out that way, though, and…for that…and for many other things, we are sorry."

            "The only thing I cannot figure out, now," Rauru announced, turning to Link, "Is where you figure into all of this, hero of time."

            "Perhaps," Link answered, standing tall, "It was simply time to come home."

            "I do not understand something, my friends," Rook grumbled as he turned from the torches which warmed his cold body.  "How are you going to fight the armies of darkness through the world?  How will you fight a god?"

            Link looked to Zelda and smiled.  "We may be few, but, there are certain…_items_…that can even the numbers."

            "As we learned of what news you have brought from other worlds, Link and I formed a plan," Zelda answered.  "It is not going to be easy, and sacrifices will have to be made, but, I think, if the goddesses are truly kind, we may be able to fight back."

            "The Triforce?" Rauru asked.

            "Among…other…things," Zelda answered.  

            "We will split into teams and search out allies, as well as items that can help us," Link added.  "Fighting Rau would be easy, were he our only obstacle.  Fighting the demons and armies of the planet, including Gannon, will not.  All of us will have to work together to plan battle strategies and plans for the war.

            "The shadows are now our home, speed is our shield, and our minds will be our weapons.  The overconfidence of our enemies will be their own undoing."

~

Next:  **Termina**

(A/N:  The next four chapters will split the group up a little. I wont' tell what's going to happen, but each of the next four chapters will happen at the same time.  I may be a little slow, though not as slow as three months, on getting these out, because the state championship is this weekend, and I have to travel to Vanderbilt to fence.  With a little luck, maybe I can finish this story as the Tennessee state champion.  Or, maybe I'll get my butt kicked, and finish this as the 26th best fencer in Tennessee.  Either way, it'll get finished eventually.)


	11. The Last Battleground, pt 1

Chapter 10

~ The Last Battleground ~

pt. 1

            Smoldering ruins stood in a place that was once the center of commerce of the lands of Termina.  The brick and mortar that built this city of stone lay everywhere in massive mountains, while smoke rose through the small holes, searching for more air to fly away with.

            The battle had been quick, and the victory never really was in doubt.  The only surprise had been that one man had defeated the unprepared Knights of Termina so easily.  His powers were only whispered about, and even then not believed by those who spoke of them.

            In little more than a week, a powerful being, known only as _the Black Knight_ not only destroyed Termina, but brought pain and agony untold of in history upon its people.  The guardian Spirits of the temples, one by one, were destroyed at the hands of this almost omnipotent Knight, and the armies that tried to withstand his attacks were slaughtered mercilessly.

            The races of Termina had not given up, though.  Despite the terror that ravaged the realm, the people continued their struggle, often defying what seemed almost like a deity just to remain free.

            At the edge of the smoldering ruins, along the fallen walls of the city, a figure in a brown cloak stood swaying with the sweeping winds over the carnage before her.  A strand of long, blonde hair fell from the darkness of the hood that covered her face, every now and again, it gently rose with the gust of wind and fell again.

            Zelda looked up with her bright blue eyes at the huge clock tower, the single standing entity in the town, and felt a combination of anger and pain at the sight of the bodies hanging from the walls.  Already, the hand of Rau had reached this far, and the agony of what was to happen here would spread throughout the world, if they could not stop it now.

            The Princess reached her hand out from her cloak and looked at the small bracelet she held, gently rubbing the smooth gold with her gloved fingers.  The bracelet brought little courage, but every bit helped.  Gently, she put the bracelet away and looked up to the city, summoning all the courage she could to step beyond the walls.

            One foot rose to the air, and stepped over the first bricks.  The other foot soon followed, but each step was painful, almost agonizing to the young woman who knew these lands from past travels.  Slowly, but steadily, she moved through the gateway towards the clock tower.  Beaten, bloodied people rushed from the sight of the cloaked figure, scared of any who were not broken by the hand of the Black Knight.

            Messages were written in blood on walls that still stood.  Some were cries for help, while others were laughs and mockery, written in the Goblin language.  All messages stuck forever in the Princess's mind as she walked through the city.

            Zelda turned to the right at the clock tower, and walked quickly through the streets to the place where the town mall once stood.  Stores on each side of the street were little more than rubble, and even time had passed since the attacks from the looks of things, bodies still lay in the rubble.  Spears still sticking out, arrows stuck in the brick walls, and scorched grasses and wooden posts lay at the edges of the town.

            Ahead, cries of anger began to fill the air, as well as cheers.  Zelda turned away from the rubble and let her attention carry to a gathering of people and soldiers that had gathered at what used to be the town hall.  One man, a Knight, held his spear high and shouted to the crowd below, which cheered and yelled at his words.  The people held spears, swords, pitchforks, torches, whatever they could use as a weapon.  

            Zelda walked to the back of the crowd, hoping to find the one she had come for.

            "Long ago, our fathers built this town with their own hands, and from a few people, a great kingdom was built!" the soldier called.  "We can not, will not, let the Goblin Army take these lands!"

            The crowd cheered as Zelda carefully made her way through, looking for someone who could help her.  Cries came from the crowd supporting the soldier on the stand, "Here, here! Shiro!"  

            "We would rather die, fighting here for our city, then to let them rule over us!" Shiro yelled down to the crowd.  "So, where is this Army?  We come as they beckon…As the Black Knight beckons, and they are not here!  They know our strength!  They know they cannot defeat us if they do not take us unaware!"

            Zelda looked to the stage at the screaming Knight.  She was impressed by his courage, even if it may have actually been stupidity that was talking.  Her searches for the one she was looking for were unsuccessful.  She would have to start sifting through the rubble for his body, hoping that that which he carried with him may still be there, undamaged.

            _"I am curious,"_ a loud voice boomed, shaking the princess suddenly.  The voice came from everywhere and nowhere.  It almost seemed as though it spoke from within her mind, but she could hear it echo from the distant hills and mountains. "_Will your tongue run so much, after it has been cut out?"_

            Zelda looked to the sky over her shoulder, her hands covering her ears in pain.  The voice that echoed through the air was familiar, despite its augmentation.  It was a voice that had echoed through the halls of Hyrule castle not long ago.

            "The Black Knight!" a woman next to Zelda gasped, covering her mouth in fear.

            _"Shiro the Great, that is what they are calling this filth that is to destroy me?"_ the Black Knight laughed as he floated in the air.  _"From what I hear, you were a poor excuse for a soldier, and now, you are an even poorer excuse for a leader.  Your 'army' will not know just how badly it has been defeated.  When you are dead, your souls will travel back here, where you will be my servants for eternity.  Of course, I offer you life.  I offer your army the choice to live, and not face the eternal torment of the armies that faced me before."_

The crowd was silent for a moment, but only a moment.  A whistling sound broke the silence, as an arrow shot through the sky.  The Black Knight caught it just before it hit his chest, but the effect was instant.  The crowd roared, and threw anything it could at the man floating in the sky above.

            Zelda edged her way back through the crowd towards Shiro, who still held the bow that fired the arrow, knowing the extent of the power the being in the sky had.  She brushed through, sweat beginning to form at her forehead and her breath getting harder as she whispered to herself, "Bishop, don't do anything stupid!"

            Bishop floated in mid-air, his magical field around him protecting him from the arrows and rocks tossed at him.  With a laugh, he held out his arm at the huge crowd before him and fired blasts of his magical energy down on the masses.  The explosion ripped through the crowd, sending the screaming masses crying for their lives.

            People shrieked and ran in confusion as Goblins began pouring through the rubble mountains from all directions, slaughtering those that had thrown down their weapons and run from the carnage.

            This was not a battle.  It was a massacre.

            Zelda fought the urge to turn and fight Bishop.  She couldn't be found out.  Not just yet.  She rushed through and pulled two fallen children from the ground, helping them through the crowd as more explosions rained down on the crowd.  Zelda turned at the hidden alleyway that ran underground and shooed the children down the stairs with a few other adults.

            The Princess turned to the city, drawing her long sword, careful to keep her hood up and cloak covering her as the winds and debris swept through the area.  Cinders and ashes floated on the winds, covering what little sunlight still broke through the dark skies and turning day to complete darkness.

            Two goblins jumped over the walls behind the Princess, attacking with swords.  Zelda turned and quickly knocked away the attacks, then spun into the first Goblin, sending her own sword through the creature.  She yanked out the weapon and used the momentum from the action to slice her blade into the second beast, and dashed away before the Goblins could recover from their blows.

            Soldiers had centered near the hall and were putting up a defense, as well as they could, but were badly out-numbered.  They rounded about the civilians shields raised and put out front to knock away spears and arrows and swords.  It was a brave stand, but one blast from Bishop could send it all flying.

            Zelda stepped around the corner of a standing wall and pulled out her ocarina, keeping an eye out for attackers.  She played a quick tune and readied her sword, as she turned back around the corner.  In moments, the majestic horse ran through the alleyway, knocking aside Goblins as it thundered through the street.

            Zelda clenched her teeth as she started running, holding her sword tightly, and lifting her arm.  Epona rushed beside her, and the Princess threw her arm up on the saddle and pulled herself up with one great stride flinging her leg desperately over the saddle.

            Epona darted through the Goblin Army, slamming limp bodies aside with her mighty strides.  Zelda was almost as deadly with her blade, slashing and hacking the creatures as she ran through to the trapped soldiers.

            Two more blasts reached up to the sky as civilians and Knights tried to flank the Goblins and escape.  Bishop's laughter filled the air as he continued to pick off innocents with his magical energies.

            Zelda rode past the Knights, and lifted her hands to the air.  She whispered a quick prayer, pulled all the magical power she had into a single bolt and fired at the building behind them.  The wall blew out into the fields behind, shaking the grounds and knocking people from their feet.  However, the attack on the city walls was successful, opening an escape route for the trapped knights and civilians, who immediately flooded through to the lands beyond.

            The Knights fought with spears and swords, trying desperately to hold off the Goblins, but were overwhelmed.  Zelda, weakening from the use of her magic, turned to the Knights to see if she could help any more when she noticed on Knight cut off from the rest.  As valiantly as he could fight, he was quickly being pulled from his comrades by the strengthening tide of swarming Goblins..

            Zelda turned Epona toward the Knight and dashed through the Goblins who stepped aside from the horse, firing arrows at the rider.  Just as Zelda reached the Knight, the Goblins broke through his strong parries and knocked him to the ground.  At once, several of the large beasts were atop the soldier, beating and hitting with all they had.

            Zelda drew a dagger from her belt and threw it, taking out the lead goblin, then raised her sword, ready for another attack.  Epona charged into the group, knocking away several creatures, then reared up and killed two more with its legs.

            The Princess reached down and helped the badly wounded Knight up to the saddle, reared Epona around, and dashed out into the fields behind.  The two tore through the Goblins before jumping the rubble and dashing out from the city toward the lands to the east.

            Arrows whistled as they flew through the air, a fiery one knicking the princess's cloak and temporarily catching it ablaze.  The two warriors rode for several minutes, trying to pass out from under the attacking onslaught of arrows.  "I owe you me life!" Shiro cried out over the winds.

            Zelda's hood flew back and she looked over her shoulder, smiling at the Knight.  "You need not give me your life, only your help!" she answered, looking back at the soldier.  Behind him the burning city lit the sunless day, bringing light to where there would be no more for some time.  "Where am I going, then?"

            "Ikana!" Shiro answered.  "The abandoned city is the last stronghold.  This attack was to draw them in before we could attack again with a better defensive position!"

            "I hope it works," Zelda answered.  "But I fear it will not.  You know not the forces you are dealing with, good Knight."

            "We've learned well," Shiro yelled back.  "But, we have no choice but fight!"

**

            Often, Princess Ruto let the pangs of all she had witnessed in her life overcome her.  Tears would flow from her eyes and carry away in the waters she loved so much.  Tears of memory from the days she was swallowed by her god.  Tears fell from memories of her people frozen nearly to death.  Tears fell from memories of her father swayed to the dark lessons of the evil wizard.  Tears fell from memories of watching brave Zora fighters slaughtered in senseless battles.

            Now, as Ruto looks out over the Great Bay of Termina, the tears fall again, though no waters can hide the glimmering streaks as the fall down her soft, blue skin.  Brief whisps of sunlight fought through the rolling smoke and clouds to bounce off the high tides of the incoming ocean.  

            Ruto could pass no further in the borders of these lands, for the entrance was enough to forever scar her.  In a sick, twisted "joke," a dozen Zora soldiers and civilians had been strung up from large poles sticking deep in the water by their necks, with hooks from their mouths.  Ruto knew they had fortunately been dead before the hooks had been passed through, but the atrocity was enough to sicken even the strongest of souls.  Birds and the elements had already eaten away at the bodies, but Ruto guessed they were to stay hanging there as a warning to any who wished to enter this area.

            "What fool would enter this realm, unarmed?" a calm voice called from behind Ruto.  The Princess slowly turned on the large boulder she stood upon and looked at the Zora warrior standing at the edge of the boulder, a spear in his hands and a sharp look in his eye.  "Even in the best of times, there are dangers for our people unheard of, especially for a Princess."

            "Lower your weapon, warrior, I am not here to harm you," Ruto said, sniffing and wiping away the tears.

            "You're…you're not here to harm me?" the soldier scoffed, looking over his shoulder as several Zora began to pop up from the water and look out at the Princess.  "Milady, you and your father the King have already done far more than harm us.  Do you not see the bodies out there?"

            "Harm?" Ruto asked, putting her hand to her chest.  "How could you say that I..?"

            "_You_, yes, you brought this upon us, Princess!" the warrior screamed.  Several Zora climbed to the rock from the waters, anger across their faces.  "Our lives were peaceful, for a time.  Since the moon nearly fell and destroyed us all, Termina had been living in peace.  Then came news that the King from the Hylian lands had declared war on the Gorons!  Soldiers were called to fight, or they would face the consequences here."

            "My father never called for…"

            "He did, Princess," a soldier interrupted, stepping forward from the group.  He wore the skin of a large fish over his head-fin.  The skin was decorated to the rank of a commander in the Zora armies of this part of the world.  "I was sent.  I apologize for the behavior of my men, here, but their anger is not focused. I am Milan, Commander of the Termina Marines, Leader of this rabble of Zora."

            "Milan?" Ruto asked.  "Yes, I…I remember you. You helped so much in the fights with the Goron in Hyrule."

            "Your forces alone were never enough," Milan said, looking out to the skies as they seemed to grow darker.  "Your father sent me to gather forces from here, but they would not come.  The Zora here are dependant upon the Goron for commerce, as well as helping to keep the Gerudo thieves in check.  Without the dependency upon each other, both would crumble and fall.  I decided to stay here and help them with their cause of not fighting."

            "This is honorable," Ruto answered.  "If I had only known that my father had tried…"

            "There is nothing you could have done, as was the case in Hyrule," Milan answered.  "I know of your heart, and I know of your intentions, but I also know that when it comes to your father, you are weak, and you always will remain so."

            Anger flushed through Ruto, and her fists clenched together.  "You know nothing of me!" she shouted.  "My father is a good Zora!  His corruption is at the hands of a demon!"

            "The same demon that gave powers to the Black Knight?" Milan asked.

            "The Black Knight?" Ruto asked.  "Who is this you speak of?"

            "A week ago, now, a human knight appeared at theses shores demanding our help.  He told us the Hylian Zora were his allies, and the Goblin armies had come from the forests.  He really did not need our help, but he was merely testing our loyalties, giving us an option.  We did not know the consequences for refusal."

            "The consequences were this?" Ruto asked, signaling to the hanging bodies.

            "This is only a scratch upon the surface of what he has done, milady," Milan answered.  "He flooded the beaches, destroyed our homes, our gods, slayed our people and destroyed the eggs.  One man.  One man destroyed us, and all we could do was run and hide.  Any who stood and fought met with a  terrible end."

            "How have you survived all this time?" Ruto asked.

            "Fortunately for us, his attention wavered to the Gorons and Humani," Milan answered.  "We hide in the caves, and strike at the Goblin armies when we can, but our numbers are so depleted, we are mere algae, fighting off a great whale."

            Ruto's attention turned away from the standing soldiers to the lands of Termina as fires began to erupt, lighting the now sunless day. Explosions thundered through the valleys, sending ripples through the waters, and Ruto could see enormous masses of creatures moving towards the city not far from the shores.

            "As you can see, none can fight this terror," Milan said, extending his arm.  "You will, of course, be welcome to stay and hide with us, should you wish it."

            Tears again began to fall from the Princess's eyes.  Slowly, she felt herself crawling into a ball, and falling gently into the warm arms of the Zora Commander.  His embrace was soft, and comforting, as a father's is to his tearful daughter.  It was so easy, in these arms to hide from the world, to let it all go and never worry again.

            "No," Ruto whispered, putting her hand to Milan's chest.  

            "Princess?" Milan asked.

            Ruto pushed away and looked to the Zora standing around her.  "Hope.  There is hope, do you not know?  I cannot stand aside any longer and let the Wizard command our peoples through my father."

            "Hope?" the Zora warrior asked, pushing Milan aside.  "What hope can you offer?  You have no powers, you have no command, you are weak."

            "You're right," Ruto answered.  "I have no powers, and I have no command.  That does not mean I do not have an army."

            "Princess?" Milan asked.

            "Together with the Goron and the Hylians, we could be unbeatable.  There are commanders, Kings, others who are working as I am to rally the peoples together.  We may not win, but it would be better than a life in hiding."

            "But living is far better than dying!" the warrior yelled.

            "And how long do you think you will live?" Ruto asked as another explosion sounded from Clocktown.  "How long until the Black Knight—the right hand of Rau himself—becomes bored with the humans and decides he wants to go fishing again?  There will be no hiding from Rau, and if we must fight, then let us fight in the best possible way."

            "How is that?" Milan asked.

            "Together.  On a battlefield.  With honor.  The greatest of Gods cannot take that from us.  It is ours alone to have and to use."

            The Zora stood and looked from one to another, unsure of what to think.  The warrior turned to Milan and said, "We follow you.  Where you go, we go.  If you choose to follow her, we will follow her."

            Milan turned and kneeled before Ruto, the other Zora following suit.  "The fallback for the army of Termina is Ikana canyon.  It is mostly against the stream, but we can swim there quickly through the caves and reach it before the Goblin army does, supposing any humans are left.  Is this where we should meet, my Princess?"

**

            Statues of crumbling empires knew not the horrors that the stone legs, arms and torsos of the northern mountain village of the Gorons knew.  Some still in the place where the deathblow occurred, legs stood, bodies fallen, crumbled rocks and scattered rubble lay all along the grounds.

            Darunia had seen this before.  Those closest to him at Death Mountain lay across the cave in similar states.  The part that bothered the King of the Gorons so much was that he was now so used to what he saw before him.

            Dragons had ravaged his people.  The volcano had blown, the armies of darkness had swept upon him, and his small, tattered armies still stood in Hyrule, awaiting the return of their powerful king.

            Times like this were the ones in which Darunia found he must work extra hard to cover the soft filling within his hard body.  He had to be stronger than the stone which composed his body for his people.  He had to be the pillar for which they stood upon, even if the building upon which he stood was falling.

            The dark lands let little sunlight pass through, and the explosions in the distance did nothing to help the worry he carried for Princess Zelda.

            "We held as long as we could, m'lord," the Goron commander huffed as he staggered out from what was left of a burnt out shack built into the side of a mountain.  "Our forces rallied around and we fought the beasts rock for rock, but they…they simply outnumbered us."

            "Did you stand and fight honorably?" Darunia asked.  "Did they die as Gorons should, fighting and not running?"

            The commander laughed, his visible breath carried away on the cold winds.  "The hatred for the Goblins makes even the weakest Goron find the fire in his heart.  The disgusting beasts let loose Dodongos.  Hundreds of them.  Large ones, small ones, all they could find.  We fought with all we had, but, as I said, we had nothing left in us, milord, and we are most sorry for that."

            "Where are the others?" Darunia asked, looking about.  "Do not tell me all were wiped out in the onslaught!"

            "No, in fact, we managed to pull most of our forces back.  Not much can stop a rolling Goron, right?"

            Darunia laughed.  "Are the Gorons ready to rally behind their King and take the fight to a new land?"

            "The Gorons will follow you anywhere, Darunia," the commander answered.  "They only hope to return home."

            "Leaders greater than I are commanding us, my friend.  With luck, we will destroy the enemy and return our lives to that of peace and eating rocks."

            "Yes, m'lord," the commander answered.

            "Where is the fall-back?" Darunia asked.

            "A small humani settlement, not far from here in the east called Ikana," the commander answered.  "Their army is falling back there for a last stand, and the tunnels there will provide an outlet should all go wrong, again."

            "Then direct our forces there.  We will stand with the humani," Darunia commanded, turning to face the explosions in the fields beyond the mountains.  "Our army will stand with others and face our enemy."

**

            "It is good to see so many have made it safely here," Shiro sighed, his breath heavy as he loosely held on to Zelda's waist.  "It saddens me so that we should bring this lost cause directly to the innocents."

            "The armies of the Goblins are far back, we'll have a little time to prepare for a quick stand here, but, this is not your last battle," Zelda called over her shoulder as she guided Epona up through the grasses to the washed out bridge.  "This war, everything here started in my lands, in Hyrule.  We know our enemy, and we can fight him.  We have a plan."

            "Hyrule?" Shiro asked.  "Hyrule brought this upon us?  But why?"

            "No," Zelda hissed.  "Hyrule did not bring it upon you, it was first brought upon those lands.  A wizard appeared not long ago and turned the peoples of those lands against each other.  The wizard was the great demon 'Rau.'  He now controls apparently all the lands of the world, as far as we can tell."

            "I care not for what happens there, only here.  Why should I pull my armies back to clean up your mess?" Shiro asked.

            "Because, even if you can manage to win this fight, here, today, or even years down the road, there will be another, more powerful Knight to replace Bishop.  Bishop is not the source, only a symptom.  To defeat our enemy, we will have to strike in Hyrule."

            "Our lands burn, soldier," Shiro answered as Zelda pulled to a stop at the river.  A dozen soldiers rushed forward and helped the Knight down, tending to his injuries.  He brushed them apart and turned to the young woman.  "You brought this upon us, and now we will die because of your weakness, yet you want us to come fight your wars for you."

            "It is your choice!" Zelda yelled back, climbing down from Epona and guiding her to the make-shift bridge that crossed the river to Ikana.  "You can stay and die here, or you can help us win this war!  Defeat Rau and you defeat all with him!"

            "You made your journey for the pig of a King of Hyrule for nothing, soldier," Shiro spat.  "We long since stopped trusting the royal family of those lands after all they had done.  We will fight and die here, on our lands, saving our own livelihoods.  We will never ask for the help of another realm."

            Zelda looked to the ground in anger.  She turned to look out at the view of the incoming Goblin armies in the distance.  The last of the army and fleeing citizens were crossing the bridge, and the army was waiting to destroy it.  Barriers were built, and machines were crudely put together for the onslaught.  A shiver ran through Zelda's body as she thought about how these humans stood no chance.  They would be slaughtered.

            "I still owe you my life, Hylian," Shiro hissed as he pulled new armor over his old wounds.  "Thus, I will not run you from this battlement, but stay out of our way.  If I see you ever again in these lands, I will kill you."

            "I will gladly stay out of your way," Zelda answered, adding with a smile, "What can I, a weak little girl do?  All I ask is that I can find a single man.  He is about my height, has brown, balding hair, a pointy mustache, and carries a massive bag over his back."

            "Look around," Shiro answered, acting busy readying the machines as he spoke.  "I know not of this person you seek, but if he lives still, then he is in this canyon, for all out there have been slaughtered by now."

            Zelda turned and walked through the tents, the rubble, and the people, cowering, ready and waiting for the inevitable attack.  "Have you found what we are looking for?" a gruff, rumbling voice called to the Princess as she wandered through the crowds.

            "Darunia?" Zelda asked, turning to the large Goron as he walked up to her, several large Gorons in tow.  "No, I fear he may well be lost to us, as is what we seek."

            "Then all will be lost?" Ruto's voice asked, as the young princess walked up alone from the roadway.  "We should pull these people back and ready a larger war in Hyrule."

            "We cannot," Zelda answered.  "The peoples are too stubborn and they know not the forces they are dealing with.  They have no desire to fall back and fight with us.

            "Perhaps after the Black Knight begins to wipe them out again, they will see reason?" Darunia asked.  "My Gorons are positioned at the tunnels, ready to lead the way to Hyrule through those caves."

            "I can only hope," Zelda answered.  "Still, we must search for our man while we can.  If he is here, then we will not need this army, though we will continue to try to help them."

            Ruto sighed.  "Nothing comes easy to us, does it?"

            Zelda nodded as she watched the sun fall from above the clouds and shine its bright light upon the mountains.  The Goblin Armies were almost here, and, flying along as though he were the thunder god himself, Bishop commanded his armies, and readied his attack.

**

Next **part 2.  **

To come: **Link, Nabooru, Nacie.**


	12. The Last Battleground, pt 2

~ Chapter 11 ~

The Last Battleground

Pt. 2

            The flashes of light reflected in Zelda's eyes as she looked out to the horizon, no longer able to ignore the intensity of the lightning blasts along the frontiers.  The storms were beginning to rage, and, as if the weather itself was connected to the battleground, the violence with which the storms brewed heated the war, and brought fear to the hearts of those desperately trying to defend this last outpost.

Zelda turned away from the massing armies and continued her frantic rush through the crowd of humans, her eyes searching desperately for any who could fit the description Link gave her, Darunia, and Ruto before they left for the fields of Termina.  

Ruto rushed along beside her, her blue skin and almost alien appearance standing out among the thousands of humans gathered in the cove.  Even with the brown cloak wrapped about her, she still easily stood out, and many of the humans, especially those who seldom had dealings with the Zora, shied away from the Princess.

Another flash of lightning streaked across the sky overhead, and the eerie sound of laughter echoed through the hills.  Zelda grabbed Ruto's hand and turned to the source of the laughter.  "We're too late," the Princess whispered.  "Bishop's already here."

_"Peoples of Termina,"_ Bishops powerful voice thundered,  "_Why must we fight?  Why must you attack and try to stop what is inevitable?  Why do you yearn to live, knowing life is here for only a moment?"_

"Should we fight?" Ruto asked.  "He will rip these people apart."

"No, not yet," Zelda answered.  "It is too soon for Bishop to know we're here.  He'll target us, and we don't stand a chance with these new powers he has."

"We would rather die free, then live under your rule, Black Knight!" Shiro's voice called out from the Terminian Army at the edges of the cliff.  

_"But, don't you see?"_ Bishop asked with a laugh.  "_You are under my rule, no matter what.  If you die, then the god of the dead will only send your souls back here to rebuild this world and to serve me."_

Rather than answer with his voice, Shiro lifted his bow and fired an arrow at the omnipotent figure floating in the sky.  Bishop caught the arrow and snapped it like a twig.  He lifted his fingers and snapped them.  The answer was instantaneous.

The Goblin army poured over the hills and across the chasm on a wide bridge that magically appeared out of thin air.  Fiery arrows lit up the sky, and the cries of the fowl beasts sent shivers down every human's spines.

Shiro raised his sword to the sky and screamed, at once strengthening the resolve of the soldiers and sending them charging forward into the onslaught of Goblins.  The two armies clashed at the edge of the chasm in meeting that was louder and more powerful than the brightest flash of lightning above.

Zelda pulled her sword from its sheath and held her hand up, the magical energy glowing from it to light their way as they hurried several civilians further up the hills and away from the arrows which rained down from the sky.

Bishop floated over the armies, arrows glancing off the force field around him and drew in magical energies, readying his own attacks upon the innocents of these upper hills.

"Zelda!" Ruto gritted her teeth, pulling her bow up and readying an arrow.  "What are we going to do?"

            A batch of civilians stood near the gates, completely open to the attacks as Bishop began firing down on the masses around him, laughing maniacly as he did so.

            "Come on!" Zelda screamed, darting across the field.  A batch of Goblins broke free from the lines and charged after these retreating civilians.  Zelda cut them off and attacked with her sword.

            The four goblins were caught off guard as Zelda slashed into two of them immediately.  She whipped her blade around and caught the third Gobling in the leg, knocking him to the ground.  However, the fourth slipped around her and began to strike down on the Princess of Hyrule.  However, before the sword struck, an arrow ripped through the Goblin's hands, pinning them and the sword against the rock wall behind him.

            Zelda breathlessly fell to the ground, thinking the attack was still to come, but when she turned, and saw the creature screaming in agony as he tried to rip his hands from the wall, she stood and ran to the civilians, trying to rush them into a cove that led to the caves.

            "Come on! Let's go!" she screamed as Ruto caught up, her string still vibrating from the shot she took.  The civilians scattered into the cove and cowered in the shadows.

            "You won't be safe here for long!" Ruto called out.  "You'll have to get down this cove and into the tunnels.  The Gorons will help you down the tunnels and on the path to Hyrule!"

            "Have any of you seen the Mask Maker?" Zelda asked, her eyes searching through the darkened cove for the man they had come to Termina to find.  

            "Mask Maker?" one of the women asked, shielding her eyes from the bright flashes above as another blast sounded from the battlefield.  "Who is the Mask Maker?"  
            "He's about my height," Ruto called.  "Brown hair, carries a large sack on his back!"

            "No, I've—"

            "Why, I'm right here," a man answered, standing and looking to the women.

            Zelda and Ruto looked to each other in surprise.  Zelda turned to the man, "The Mask Maker?  The one who helped a young Hylian boy not long ago in these lands.  He found Majora's Mask and returned it to you!"

            "Oh, yes, I remember the young boy," the Mask Maker answered.  "Is he here?  We could certainly use his help, and he certainly is a good deal of help at that."

            "The rest of you people get going down the tunnel!" Ruto yelled.  "You, Mask Maker!  Come here, now!"

            The civilians scattered down the path into the darkness, grateful to escape the carnage behind the cove as the Mask Maker slowly came towards the two women, his body slumped, his heart beating mercilessly.

            "Where are your masks?" Ruto asked.

            "Masks?" the man asked.  "Why on earth do you need masks, now?  None would help against this monster, and this is no time to play!"

            "There was one mask that Link gave you that will help!" Zelda answered.  "We have to find it and bring it back to Hyrule.  It is the only way we can win this war!"

            "Who is this Link, and what mask can help you?"

            "Link is the young boy who helped you!" Ruto answered.  "And we need the Fierce Deity's mask!  Now, answer us, where are your masks!"

            The Mask Maker shook his head and looked down the alley, slowly turning and taking a step down the path.

            "Stop," Zelda hissed, pulling her sword and aiming it at the man.  "Where are you going."

            "Like Majora's Mask, one should not use the Deity's mask on a whim, my ladies.  You should not even know about it.  The effects of that mask are too great even for—"

            "We don't have the time for this!" Ruto screamed.  "She is the Princess of Hyrule, and I am the Princess of the Zora.  So you see, we're individuals who know a thing or two about power!  Together with Link and that Mask, we're going to bring down this Black Knight and all who are fighting to destroy the world  So, you're either going to help us by telling us where the mask is, or you're going to help us by going out and fighting Goblins with us!"

            The Mask Maker, visibly shaken, took another step back.  "I—I am afraid of…Goblins."

            Zelda lowered her sword and stepped forward putting her hand on the man's shoulder.  Trying as hard as she could to ease her voice in the loud carnage of the war behind her, Zelda spoke, "Listen to me, my friend.  We only want the one mask, and we promise to destroy it when we are done.  We will not use it for personal gain or for any evil purpose.  Just, we are begging you, tell us where it is."

            The Mask Maker lowered his eyes and sighed.  "The cave on the other side of the river.  You will have to get through the lines and go to the right, along the river.  Within, you will find my bag hidden in the cave.  Do not let the dark ones find the bags, or let the mask fall in the wrong hands, or all will be lost."

            Zelda and Ruto turned and rushed from the Cove, never again to see the Mask Maker or the alley.  As they rushed out to the field, the slaughter before them was yet another image that was forever burned into their minds.

            Fires raged through the valley, embers flying to the sky.  Bodies hung from massive spears stuck into the ground, as explosions ripped through the human armies.  Still, they held their ground, fighting fiercely back against the monstrous hordes, and unleashing as much carnage as they could with their limited weapons and abilities.

            Zelda pulled her Ocarina and played a tune.  Even though the sound could not be heard over the fighting, Epona rushed out from the cove she had been hiding in and walked to the Princess, nudging her playfully with her nose as she stepped next to Zelda.

            The Princess pulled herself up and helped Ruto up, who held on tightly, having never rode upon a horse before.  "Nasty, devilish creatures," Zelda heard Ruto curse.

            Zelda pulled the horse around and spurred her on towards the masses, raising her sword and readying for an attack through the lines.  Two Gorons shot down the hills, rolled up in balls and shaking the earth with every bounce.  Zelda pulled the charging horse behind the boulders as they cleared a path and rushed Epona toward the caves.

**

            "Here it is!" Ruto laughed, pulling the mask from the bag and holding it high.  "I can't believe we found it!"

            "Perhaps we can yet win this war," Zelda sighed, dropping the masks she held in her hands.  The dark cave was barely lit by the fires outside and above in Ikana's long fields.

            "It's hard to believe that this little…mask…can give such powers to the one that wears it," Ruto whispered, looking down at he Link-shaped mask.  It felt odd, and was heavier than she thought a mask could be.

            "I'm curious as to just what powers you could be talking about," a dark voice called through the cave.  

            Zelda and Ruto jumped, weapons ready and turned to the source.  There, a purple-haired woman stood in the doorway, lazily leaning on the cave's rock wall.  "By the Goddesses, Princess, you _are_ hard to kill, indeed."

            "Sakura," Zelda hissed.  "I wondered what had happened to Bishop's pet."

            "Pet?" Sakura laughed.  "I have anything and everything I ever wanted, now.  You could not begin to understand or believe the pleasures I have at my disposal anytime, now, Princess.  And to think, it all could have been yours if you only would have worked with us."

            "Pleasures?" Zelda asked.  "At what price are these pleasures?  You've sold your soul to Bishop and Rau, and for what?  You watch as innocent civilians are killed and do nothing.  How can you enjoy these pleasures as you watch this?"

            "How can you, born of royalty ask me?" Sakura asked.  "Oh, I can do it as easily as you could watch innocents suffer and die in your kingdom while you slept in your big, comfortable bed.  What have you ever done for them?  What blood have you shed for your people?"

            "More than you can ever know," Zelda answered.  "Ruto, take the mask and slip back through the lines.  Take it to Link.  I'll be right behind you."

            Ruto slid the mask under her arm and rushed past Sakura to the night.  Sakura made no move toward her, but simply watched as she rushed by.  Sakura turned to Zelda and drew her sword, smiling at the Princess.  "I wondered what it was you three were after.  After I heard you were coming, I had spies follow the three of you.  I knew it would have to be something great if you were to risk your lives for it like this.  But, a mask?  What possible powers could a mask give you?"

            "Shut up and fight," Zelda hissed as she edged around with her sword to a better position.

            "Oh, we are touchy tonight, aren't we?" Sakura asked.  "You know, since we're on 'touchy' subjects, I was wondering how Link is doing these days?  I heard he was back in Hyrule.  It took us less time to get there than it took him.  You just have to know the right way to travel, I suppose, but, I had hoped to see him.  After all, I will get bored with the men in this land, and will need a prince by my side."

            "Link would never love you," Zelda spat.

            "But he has, Princess," Sakura laughed.  "Or, at least, he was falling for me.  What?  Do you think he could ever love a Princess?  He needs a soul that is free.  Someone who won't tie him up, but will let him roam without strings attached!  You are hardly that type of person."

            Zelda, a fire lit in her soul, and her eyes almost glowing with anger, raised her sword, let out a scream and charged the Squire.

**

            Sweat bristled down Ruto's forehead as she rushed up the hill.  The Termina Army had collapsed, and the Goblin armies were surrounding them.  Bishop delighted as he flew around, throwing fireballs down on the soldiers below.

            The mask grew heavy in Ruto's arms, and desperation began to break through as she realized the path to the tunnels would not be easy to reach as the Goblin armies swept through the plateau.  

            Ruto stopped and looked around, a slight and distant tinkling sound catching her ears.  Something almost seemed to be calling to her.  She looked down and watched as a glowing, blue teardrop fell from the mask and splashed to the ground.  The sound was coming from the mask itself.  Ruto watched as the mask slowly changed from Link's face to a different human face.  It turned to a human girl's face with blue hair around the edges of the mask.

            Temptation began to eat at Ruto's heart.  Why not?  No one had told her she couldn't do it, and there seemed to be no other choice at the moment.  Slowly, carefully, Ruto lifted the mask to her face, unsure of just what a mask like this could possibly do to her.

            The mask leaped from her hands and suctioned itself to her face, knocking the Zora back to the ground.  The pain Ruto suddenly felt was tremendous, and the world around her felt like it was contorting and shifting.  Suddenly, there was a flash, and Ruto blinked her eyes.  All had returned.  The clouds above, lit by the fires on the ground looked down on her.

            Ruto pulled herself up and looked into the flowing waters beside the cliff.  A human woman with painted lines across her face and long, blue hair looked back.  Ruto jumped as she realized it was her own face she was looking at.

            The Zora Princess could feel the power flowing through her own arms, and began to slowly realize why Link wanted this mask back.  Ruto stood and turned to the floating black figure in the sky.  Gently, she lifted her arms, causing her body to lift to the air, and float in place.

            Ruto smiled and floated forward over the river, pulling energy into her own body, and readied herself for the attack.

**

            A trickle of blood fell from the small cut on Zelda's forehead above her eye.  Sakura's reposts were too fast for her to get back from.  The girl truly had become more powerful than she was before.  

            However, Zelda had become more powerful, too.

            "When I first saw you, I had sympathy for you, Princess," Sakura laughed as she held her sword lightly.  "I thought you were a mere puppet.  A play toy for men.  Now, however, I realize that you just play with men, yourself.  You use your looks to get others to fight and die for you, and then live the luxury life.  How sweet it must have been for you."

            "You do not know me, nor do I want your sympathy!" Zelda screamed as she lunged again.  Her attack was parried away, but the Princess darted back before Sakura could strike again.  "You help that monster, and you, yourself, are a monster!"

            "Such harsh words, Princess!" Sakura laughed, striking as hard as she could.  The princess dodged the attack, but Sakura's attack slashed straight through a rock.  "But I've been called every name there is.  Bishop saved me.  He took me from the streets of the Empire and taught me how to fight.  There is nothing I won't do for him."

            Zelda stopped and looked suddenly at the Squire.  A realization swept over her.  "He uses you, doesn't he?" she asked.

            "Wh—what?" Sakura asked, shocked and angered at the same time.  

            "Sakura, how could you let—"

            "Let him?" Sakura asked, her anger coming through.  "You don't know what it is like where I come from!  The streets of Ciera are a lot harsher than your little kingdom can know.  For a Knight to come along and take a young girl from there and give her the life that I have now is a dream!  I am grateful for what he does for me!"

            "No…no you're not," Zelda whispered.  "I've seen it from the beginning, but I couldn't put my finger on it.  You…you hate him.  You hate Link, too, don't you.  You hate him because he makes you realize how evil Bishop really is.  And you hate me for not having such a life.  Oh, Sakura, I had no idea."

            "_Shut up!_" Sakura screamed, as she fell to her knees, crying. "I don't want your sympathy!  I deserve what I ge—"

            "NO!" Zelda screamed.  "You don't!  Sakura, what he does to you, no matter where you come from is not right!  I can free you from this.  I can help you.  Leave him and join us.  Link and I will do all we can to—"

            "Help me?" Sakura laughed, the tears still falling.  "Free me from this?  How can you possibly defeat them?  Rau is a god.  Bishop is practically one, now.  Then what?  How am I supposed to live?  What, should I just live with you and Link while you go on about your merry little pathetic lives?"

            Zelda turned from the squire and slowly walked to the door.  "I…I will not fight you any longer.  If you ever want…to be free, leave.  You don't have to come to us, but you are much stronger than you give yourself credit for, Sakura.  Just leave."

            "I DON'T WANT YOUR SYMPATHY!" Sakura screamed.  She raised her blade and ran across the cave.  The squire slammed her sword down as Zelda side-stepped the blade, crushing the rocks below.

            The Princess swiped with her blade and shattered Sakura's sword.  Zelda lifted the end of the blade to Sakura's throat and looked down at the fallen Squire who openly wept on her knees.

            "Kill me," Sakura whispered.  "End this life, please."

            An enormous explosion from the sky caught Zelda's attention.  The Princess turned and looked up, her eyes widening in surprise.  "Ruto?" she asked to herself.

            Zelda turned and ran from the Squire, leaving her weaping at the entrance to the cave.

**

            Ruto drew in her hands, and with everything she could muster, threw out a blast of magic from her hands.  The green bolt of magic ripped through the sky, slamming into Bishop and hammering him into the mountains nearby.

            Ruto turned down to the goblin army below and threw bolt after bolt of energy down on them from above.  The armies broke, and the Goblins ran from the Goddess-like woman in the sky above, their master seemingly defeated.

            As the human armies used the distraction to escape, the mountain nearby exploded, and Bishop flew out from the rubble, his anger sending lighting streaks across the sky.

            "**_You fool!_**" the Knight thundered.  **_"You believe you can defeat me?"_**

            Ruto drew in her breath and readied herself for the attack.

            Bishop shot across the sky, firing shots at Ruto, who knocked the blasts away with her hands.  The Knight slammed into the Zora Princess, the two crashing through mountain after mountain until Ruto twisted her body around, throwing Bishop away from her.

            She shot a blast of energy at the Knight, hitting him again and again and knocking him deep into the river below.

            Ruto turned to the armies below and focused again on the Goblins.  They re-formed their lines and tried to cut off the human's retreat to the tunnels.  The Gorons had shot forward and were giving their lives to help with the escape, but even that didn't appear to be enough.

            Ruto flew down and thrust her hand into the air.  The ground below began to quake, and large hands made of stone jutted out from the ground, slamming through the Goblin army.

            **_"Ta-ta!"_** Bishop's thundering voice came through the sky.  Ruto turned and looked to her side to see the Black Knight floating gently in the sky only a few feet away from her.  **_"Shouldn't let your guard down, fool. Now, you will see my true power."_**

            Bishop threw his hand out as Ruto threw her arms up to block, but she was too late.  The Knight let a blast of energy go that enveloped the Princess.  Her screams filled the air as she slammed down on the ground below.

            Bishop landed and summoned a huge hammer from thin-air as he walked towards the limp body of the Zora Princess.  The mask had fallen off, and blue blood came from her mouth as her returned body lay limp in the crater. 

            The Knight laughed as he raised his hammer and let it fall.  Before it could land, however, it struck something else.  Darunia rushed forward and raised his arms.  Crossed, they barely stopped the hammer from landing, his arm shattered within the thick, tough skin of the Goron.  Darunia screamed out, pulled back his fist and hit the Knight as hard as he could.  Bishop didn't budge an inch.

            "**_Don't you see, you fool, that you are dealing with a God?"_** Bishop asked  He pulled back his own fist and slammed it into the Goron, sending Darunia flying through the air.  Darunia curled up and landed gently, rolling off into the night.

            Bishop turned to the Princess, but was surprised to find her not even there, any longer.  He looked over his shoulder, just in time to see a horse darting away as fast as possible.

            The Knight took to the air, and fired blasts down on the horse.  Zelda turned Epona this way and that to avoid the shots, trying desperately to hold onto Ruto and the mask as she made for the tunnels to Hyrule.

            Zelda's hood fell back in the winds, and her blonde hair poured out into the night air just as she crossed into the tunnels.  The Princess rounded her horse and used her own magics to move a large boulder across the entrance to the cave.  

            "That won't stop him!" Darunia yelled as he rushed down the cave. 

            "It'll buy us just a little time!" Zelda yelled.  "Did the armies get through?"

            "Ruto bought us just enough time to pull back, thank the goddesses," Darunia answered.  "Did you get the mask?"

            "Yes!" Zelda said, lifting the heavy mask up and letting her breath out.  "Praise be, a small victory at last."

            "Victory?" a voice called out.  "What victory is this?"

            "Shiro?" Zelda asked, looking down to a soldier carried by other soldiers.  "Shiro is that you?"

            "This is no victory!" Shiro yelled.  "Countless numbers have been slain!  We're running to a foreign land we don't trust, and you're talking about victories?"

            "Keep moving," Darunia barked.  "Or I'll turn you back to face Bishop alone!"

            Zelda looked over her shoulder at the large boulder as Epona slowly kept walking forward behind the massive army.  She closed her eyes and sighed as the realization swept over her that Shiro was right.  They had just attacked one of the weakest of Rau's army and couldn't put a dent in him, even with the deity's mask.  How could they even begin to defeat what even the goddesses couldn't fight?

**

            "Aren't you going to go after them?" Sakura hissed, her red eyes heavily looking up at the floating black-armored figure. 

            "_Princess Zelda was here_?" he asked.  "_For how long had she been going through these lands?  I didn't even know she was alive_."

            "Bishop, the Goblin Army is ready to follow the caves, but you have to move the boulder!" Sakura yelled.  "What are you doing?"

            "_Why_?" Bishop asked.  "_Why come here?  What could she want, and who was that they saved_?"

            "Who cares?" Sakura asked.  "They're hurt, they're weak!  Let's just go and kill them!"

            "_No_," Bishop answered.  "_Send a messenger to Lord Rau.  Tell him of what has happened, and that the lands of Termina are ours.  I, for one, would like to see what pathetic plan our little Princess has cooked up_."

            "Yes, my lord," Sakura answered, slowly turning and walking towards the goblin army.

            "_Oh, and Sakura, you will, of course, have to be punished for not telling me they were here."_

**To come:  **The tri-force, the master sword.


	13. Worlds Apart, pt 1

Chapter 12

~ The Last Battlefield ~

 pt. 3

Hyrule 

            Three walk across the waters, as though it were nothing more than dry land.  Their feet touch the water, yet no dampness reaches the cloth upon the leather boots.  Everything is reflected on the surface, yet there is little above to reflect, save the waters of the great lake of Hyrule.

            "Long, now, has time passed since beings walking on two legs have disturbed the waters of the solid lake," Nabooru whispered as she uneasily walked, looking down at her own reflection in the dimly lit waters.  "Stay close, for the enemy must know of this place to have changed it so."

            Link nodded as he uneasily crept across the reflective surface.  Below him lie his own reflection, and that of Nacie and Nabooru.  Above, and reflected below, Hylia Lake flashed as lighting streaked across the skies above, revealing the silhouette of an enormous creature swimming the great depths.

            "I never would have believed any entity could possess magic capable of this," Nacie whispered her fingertips touching her lips as she spoke.  Her large eyes wandered along the clear ceiling of the great cave housed below the lake.

            Rocks jutted up throughout the cavern from the icy, clear waters on the ground, as the domed cavern rounded all, only slivers passing through the lake and down into the cavern gave any hint of light.

            "It's as though the new moon were shining down on the fields of Acornaan, when covered with snow," Link whispered, his bandaged hand carefully holding a Zorian sword.  "In all my travels, I've never witnessed such despair, such destruction, such…_beauty_ as what I have witnessed on my journeys through Hyrule in these last days."

            "Are we all to die?" Nacie asked, as she rubbed her arm, desperately trying to keep it warm and not think of what fate had in store.  "Will this be our grave?"

            "Let fate decide," Nabooru whispered, taking her friend's hand.  "But, with all our strength, let us help fate make a wise decision."

            "Is this wise, my Queen?" Nacie asked suddenly.  "Why fight?  There are only but a few of us.  We could hide forever in these caves with none ever finding us.  We could…live in peace.  We could live happily, finding what we wish and caring for our children until the dark days have passed."

            "How will the dark days pass, if none are left to fight those who have brought the night upon us?" Link asked.  "As things are, there will never be beings more capable of defeating the dark ones than us.  There will never be an opportunity to pull the legs out from under the standing giant then before he learns to walk."

            "It is good, however, to rest," Nabooru answered, changing the subject.  "We've fought so much just to simply reach the caves of the Gerudo, again.  With all the spies the dark one has, it will be no surprise if they know we are coming."

            "Does a dragon worry when an ant charges it?" Link asked.  "Even if the enemy knows we are coming, he will not care.  He likely knows not who we are or what we are capable of.  Even if he knows three thieves are already within his domain, I doubt he will worry much, unless his precious tools are taken from him."

            "The world has already changed so much," Link whispered, closing his eyes.  "I can feel it in the air.  I can feel the cries of despair ringing through the lands as the dimensions are opened and long slain creatures rise again."

            "Are there none to rally the forces of good?" Nabooru asked.  "Can we, the sages, not be felt through the lands?"

            Link shook his head.

            "The portal to the water temple is just ahead," Nacie interrupted.  "Light is coming from the swirling clouds.  I suppose we should ready ourselves."

            "Wait," Nabooru hissed, stopping suddenly and standing perfectly still.  "Do you hear that?"

            "Voices in the darkness," Link smiled.  "Demons from the lake."

            As the three drew their weapons and readied themselves back to back to back, a formless entity floated from the solid waters and began to take many shapeless forms encircling the three.  Bright, glowing eyes began to shine out from the different forms, each narrow and shifting, as though one creature simply melted into another.

            Voices filled the air, cussing and screaming, though it was in no language Link had ever heard.  Though none understood the shrieks, they pierced the hearts of the three, violent and harsh, it was as though the words, themselves, were weapons to be used upon the enemies of the Legion.

            Slowly, steadily, the creature began to tighten the circle about the three, easing in to swallow them whole.

            Nabooru let out a piercing scream and threw a small knife as hard as she could, passing into the creature, but never striking it.  The knife disappeared, as though it had simply been thrown into a door, or an opening.

            "There is nothing here to hit!" she cussed as Nacie let an arrow go.  The arrow passed through the darkness and disappeared, forever, as well.

            "They're getting closer, hero," Nabooru hissed.  "Tell me you've seen these things, before!"

            Link's eyes darted back and forth.  "No," he answered, shaking his head.  "No idea what to do."

            The entity suddenly stopped moving closer about the three and started arching high to the sky.  The eyes all turned and peered down on the three, harsh red light lighting the waters about them turning the solid water to blood.

            "Link, do something!" Nacie screamed.

            Red dots began shining all through the entity around the three.  The red lights grew brighter and brighter until they became large tentacles reaching out from the depths of the being and shot across the solid water at the intruders.

            Nacie and Nabooru quickly and elegantly danced around the tentacles as they shot past each other and coiled about.  Link stopped one with his shield and cut another tentacle with his sword, then rolled forward under a third.

            Every time one of the three would cut or slice a tentacle two more would shoot out from the darkness and try to wrap up one of them.  Nacie fired arrows faster than the eye could follow while twisting and jumping from the tentacles, themselves, but seemed to accomplished little, save losing more arrows to the darkness.

            Nabooru swung her body around again and again, each time swinging her large scimitar with the swiftness and ease of a deadly dancer.  With each swing came the song of the creature, screaming and cussing even more than before.

            Nacie gracefully leaped backwards over an incoming tentacle, then used the momentum to jump yet again over the top edge of the entity and slide down its smooth backside.

            The Gerudo pulled an arrow from her quiver and aimed straight down at the solid surface of the creature and fired, flipping over the arrow and landing hard on the ground.

            The creature screeched and slowly began to ooze into the ground as the lights of its eyes, one by one, disappeared.  Within moments, nothing was left of the creature, save the severed tentacles, reflected on the water's surface.

            Sweat fell from Link's forehead to the water, dissolving instantly into the clear surface.

            "You…you've improved, my Ninante," Nabooru laughed as she breathed heavily, hands on her knees.  "I am now in your debt."

            "We must…we must press on," Link said, turning and sliding the blue curved sword into its sheathe on his back.  "There is little time."

            "Rest would be wise," Nabooru argued, sliding her dagger into its pouch.  "A moment to gather our strength before we step out to the legions of evil?"

            Before Link could respond, screams raged out from the darkness of the cavern.  Lightning flashed far above, reflecting through the Lake and down into the cavern below again, revealing thousands of small, distorted beings moving at the edges of the cave.

            Screams began to fill the air as it turned even colder than it had been.  

            "Moving on would be far wiser, I believe," Link whispered, pulling Nacie to her feet and helping her move along the waters.

            "What…what are they?" Nabooru asked.

            "They are the Ankou," Link answered, his eyes never wavering from the lighted portal.  "An enemy I do not wish to meet with today."

            The three hurried across the room, their swift feet carrying them as fast as they could move.  Link reached out with his hand and the three pushed through the green light into the swirling clouds, stepping to the next level.

**

            The grasses had barely changed, and yet it all somehow felt different.  Dryer, Nacie thought, though they were as green.  Whereas, it had before felt like the calm of a storm, the land now felt lifeless.  Barren.

            "Link?" Nacie asked.

            "I feel it, too," Link answered, his eyes darting about as he held his sword ready.

            "What is this place?" Nabooru asked.

            "The last illusion," Link answered, edging forward from the portal to the pathway between the large rows of weeds.  Butterflies scattered before his movement, taking to the blue skies.  "A land of peace before one goes to the pits of hell."

            "Within the main chamber, we cannot know what lies within, Link," Nacie hissed.  "It could still be a lake of lava, or full of thousands of goblins!"

            "Or it could be a land of total peace," Nabooru answered, looking about in shock.  "This is not what the bowels of hell should be.  How is it that this being can send armies of living and dead to rape the lands of our peoples, ignoring this paradise?"

            "This is not a land in which people can live," Link answered, shaking his head.  "This is only a byway.  A land which connects beings of the other world.  To stay here is to disappear.  The land reaps no life, the ground no riches."

            "Then, truly, this is heaven for me," Nabooru sighed.  "A land that would keep the greedy away.  No one would want this land, save those who wish to simply exist."

            "But to live here is to not exist any longer, Nabooru," Link answered as he began edging along the path, careful to watch for the enemy.  "It is the struggle against those would destroy us that lets us exist.  The hunger for what we truly deserve."

            "And perhaps it is not the land that our enemy wants," Nacie answered.  "Perhaps Nuerme seeks only to hurt those who would seek to keep him imprisoned."

            Heat flooded through the air from the blue portal that led to the chamber of Rau.  Link recoiled and stepped away from the bending light of the pathway as large globs of lava fell from the center and melted the grasses before him.

            "The room is filled," he answered.  "If the triforce pieces are within, then we have no way of reaching them."

            "I should have held onto them," Link whispered, tightening his grip about his sword until his knuckles were white.  "I should never have let the pieces fall into the lava."

            "You had an arrow through your heart, hero," Nacie answered, putting her hand upon his shoulder.  "I do not think any could fault you this error."

            "The lands have been re-shaped," Nabooru interrupted, looking past the portal to the other portals.  "Nuerme has not the powers alone to reshape the entire planet.  Especially Hyrule, which is too well guarded by the powers of the tri-force.  He must have the pieces."

            "So, then, all we must do is figure out where he is, and we can get them back?" Nacie asked.  "Then we can change the world back to the way it was?"

            "None with a beating heart have the power and strength to re-shape the world, Nacie," Link answered.  "Only with the destruction of the demons and the resurrection of the Goddesses, can they fix the lands to the way they once were."

            A whistling sound suddenly filled the air.  The three turned and immediately took to a defensive position as an arrow landed at their feet.  Dozens more arrows instantly took to the air as several Goblins fired at the three.

            They cursed in their own foul language and drew their swords hurrying forward.

            "How many?" Link asked, his eyes counting over the edge of his shield.

            "Too many," Nabooru answered.  "Two, three dozen."

            Nacie quickly drew her bow and fired, felling two charging Goblins in one shot.  They fell to the ground hard, kicking up dust and rocks.

            "There are too many to fight!" Nabooru hissed as she drew her long scimitar and dagger.  "It would be a waste of energy!"

            "And where will we run?" Link asked.  "The lava?"

            The creatures snorted as the rushed through the tall weeds over the hill and through the pathway.  Nacie fired two more arrows, easily killing more Goblins, but dropped her bow and readied her daggers for the close combat that was to come.

            Link raised his foot as an arrow sliced through the air, landing where his toes had been mere seconds before, and then charged forward.

            The first great creature swung a heavy axe horizontally.  Link quickly ducked under the attack and sliced upwards with his sword, slicing the creature's arm off.  The arm, axe and all, fell to the ground covered with the green blood of the creature.  Link rounded on him and sent his sword through its flesh, ending its life.

            Nacie jumped back again and again, the edge of the creature's axes nearly hitting her with each attack.  She landed with her back to the portal, slid her dagger across her back and her sword in front of her and shot forward, swinging both about her.  The sword knocked the beast's axes aside, then the dagger quickly followed, cutting through their tough armor and skin.  The creatures shrieked and ran.

            Nabooru waited for none, charging forward to meet the oncoming mass.  Crazed and furious, she swung her sword and dagger with intensity, blocking and thrusting with the same movements as Link covered her backside, finishing off any creature she may miss.

            Within seconds, nearly two-dozen creatures lay in parts or simply dead upon the dusty ground, with several frightened creatures running back down the path towards one of many purple portals.

            Link and Nabooru hurried forward as Nacie quickly followed, pulling arrows from dead bodies along the way and sliding them back in her quiver.

            The creatures slid through the portals screeching and screaming.  Nabooru screamed as loud as she could and jumped through the portal, her sword ready.

            Link reluctantly followed, shield raised and sword ready as Nacie caught up and put her hand on the Hylian's shoulder.

            Darkness swallowed the three, followed quickly by an engulfing, blinding yellow light.  As though the sun, itself had lit up just for the three thieves, the lands opened up and the group found themselves surrounded by a massive army of Goblins, Zora, and Wizrobes.  

            "_Quitina k'Lanea_!" Nabooru cursed, raising her sword as the shocked enemy army slowly turned to see what the fuss was about.

            "It was a trap," Nacie hissed, her daggers raised and ready.  "Nuerme knew we were there the whole time, didn't he?"

            "May have been nothing more than strange fate, Nacie," Link whispered, his sword and shield ready.  "After all, we've found what it was we were looking for, did we not?  The triforce lies on an altar before us."

            "All we have to do is cut through the hundreds of thousands guarding it."

**

            "All does not go well," Rauru's harsh voice whispered.  "The harder our forces fight, the greater our losses."

            "Your talking does not fill me with confidence, Priest," Impa hissed impatiently.  "Your voice could wake the dead, were they not already walking the earth."

            "To be this close to Ganondorf's Castle is one thing, but to find the city again destroyed does not fill my heart with joy, either, Impa," Rauru whispered, looking about the city as the two crept along the back alley, trying to avoid the zombies walking the streets.  "Termina has fallen.  The triforce has not been captured, yet, and I feel Nacie and Saria's life-energies beginning to wane."

            "It will all be for nothing if the Master Sword is not brought from the temple," Impa said uneasily.  "I'm still not sure how it is you expect to pull it from the stone, if Link is the only one who is capable.  Why did we not bring him with us?"

            "His presence would have been felt by Ganon," Rauru answered calmly.  "We do not know how powerful the King of Evil has become under Rau's influence.  To bring down the armies of darkness upon us, now, would be folly."

            "We're spread too thin, I'm afraid," Impa said impatiently.  "Zelda's plan is too risky.  Saria and Rook are hardly strong enough to protect the baby.  We should have left a warrior there with them."

            "And which warrior would we leave?" Rauru asked.  "Link, Nacie, and Nabooru are going to the depths of hell to bring back the tri-force.  Would Saria be a better choice to do that than any of the three?  Darunia, Ruto, and Zelda were all needed to rally their armies in the other lands.  And I need you to protect me while I perform complicated spells."

            "And what if we're all successful?" Impa asked.  "The ten of us against the thousands who die only to be resurrected by the God of Darkness?"

            "I do not fully know, myself, Impa," Rauru answered, shaking his head.  "We must trust the Hero of Time.  His experiences with the tools we are seeking are great and many.  The combination of the three, or maybe the three used in conjunction may be more than we need."

            "Careful, now, and watch your tongue, Priest," Impa whispered.  "We must leave the buildings and hurry across the yard to the temple, if it is still standing.  Please, be quick, and careful."

            Impa bit her lip and pulled a small dagger from her boot.  Uneasily, she lifted up to her feet and looked around the corner of a building, seeing dozens of sleeping zombies curled up on the ground.  Quickly, she put the dagger in her mouth, biting down on the blade and slipped around the corner, jumping high and quick to the top of the wall, landing on one foot at the edge and balancing perfectly with her arms spread out.  She lifted her gaze and darted along the top of the wall, her heavy feet slamming against the razor's edge of the top of the wall, but never making a sound.  

            When she reached the edge, the woman jumped, curling and twisting as she landed on the top of a gravestone, then continued with the momentum to thrust herself again to another gravestone.  Then, with amazing accuracy, she powerfully jumped to the air and landed at the front of the broken and battered door, rolling into the main hall.  She looked over her shoulder to see if the Priest was still behind her.

            "What took you so long?" Rauru asked.

            Impa nearly fell backwards as he spoke, floating gently before her in the main temple.

            "Well, then, we are, perhaps, safe?" Impa asked, regaining her composure and standing.  "After all, such a holy place as this cannot be touched by those who have darkness within their hearts?"

            "You have forgotten that the temple was once opened," Rauru answered.  "Darkness came within and changed the course of history, for a time.  The dark forces can still lie within."

            Impa carefully crossed the room, cold winds blowing through the glass-less windows and tossing her cloak about as she brushed her hands across the altar where the three stones once stood.

            Rauru chuckled a little and set his hands upon the altar, a golden glow coming from his body and at once shining with the stones above the doorway, opening the room within.  

            "I am bind with the Triforce," Rauro laughed, brushing sweat from his forehead.  "For better or for worse, whether my power is corrupted by evil or not, this temple will always heed my call."

            "A fault that may well have to be changed, if you ask me," Impa hissed.  "This is something that could haunt us one day."

            "With my death, another would gain my powers, Impa," Rauru answered.  "Maybe one with a darker soul.  Perhaps it would be better for you to push aside your thoughts of killing me to protect this temple, and keep it in my hands."

            "As you wish," Impa answered, turning to walk inside the temple of time.  "You have yet to answer how you plan to pull the sword from the stone."

            "Simple," Rauru laughed.  "It is held there by the magic of the Priests.  Link could pull it because I wanted him to.  It was written long ago that he would.  But, do you think he would be the only one in history to pull the sword?"

            "It was written that another would pull it?" Impa asked.

            "Of course," Ruaru answered.  "Many more will, and not always for the purposes of fighting wars."

            "Then, if this is all written, why did you not know of the coming of Rau?" Impa asked.

            "The writings only say who will pull the sword," Rauru answered.  "Not when or why."

            The two entered the circular chamber of the sword as flashes of lightning came through the single window high above.  

            Impa felt a cold breeze come from behind and stopped in her tracks.  Her eyes darted back as she searched the dark corners for signs of an enemy.

            "What is it, Impa?" Rauru asked, floating to the sword.

            "We are not alone," Impa answered.

            "I feel no one but you," Rauru whispered, searching around.  "No…wait.  I feel…Link and you?  And something else.  No—many things together!"

            Impa turned and pulled her dagger as two black shapes lifted from the shadows.  One took the form of a younger, weaker Link, while the other mimicked her own shape.  Beyond the two, outside at the front of the temple, the walls began to shake violently and crumble as something enormous slammed into the front of the church.

            "Rauru, get started on that spell of yours!" Impa yelled.

            The dark Link darted forward, swinging his sword, which Impa easily parried away.  The Dark Impa attacked with a powerful slash, slicing into Impa's arm as the walls at the front of the temple crashed down in a cloud of debris.

            "By the Goddesses!" Impa screamed.  "Phantam Shadows!"

            Millions of small creatures swarmed into the rooms and across the walls as Impa dodged and parried a series of attacks by the dark version of herself and Link.

            "Rauru, get on with it!" she screamed.

**

**Next:** Battle of Kikiro Fort, Magical Wars


	14. Worlds Apart, pt 2

Chapter 14  
The Last Battleground, pt. 4  
  
"The Gods be for us, for who can be for they?" Nacie hissed as she dodged yet another slash of her enemy's sword, sliding under the black blade and thrusting her daggers into the beast's body.  
  
"Hold your tongue and fight, Nacie!" Nabooru screamed as she jumped high and arched over a wave of magic as it slammed through the flooring and Goblins, all at once. No sooner did her feet hit the rubble and stone of the upturned ground then more forces tried to swallow her up again.  
  
Link raised his shield and charged forward, slashing and hacking with a broken sword, his clothing tattered and torn from several close calls, while blood fell down his cheek and arm from even closer calls.  
  
The goblins opened up before the charging Hylian, only to clear a path for a powerful wave of magics from the Wizrobes as they fired down on him. Link thrust his shoulder against his shield, and dug his feet into the stone floor, but the magic overwhelmed him, flinging his body back dozens of yards. The hero rolled with the blast and was on his feet fast enough to keep from being overwhelmed, but an axe caught his left arm leaving yet another scratch.  
  
"There are simply too many of them!" Link called. "We didn't come through here to fight! We came to get it and get out!"  
  
"These must be the Praetorians!" Nabooru yelled. "The guards set to protect the Triforce! They'll die from us, or from the hands of Nuerme, if they fail!"  
  
Link raised his shield as two large axes slammed against him, knocking him further back. The attacks were wild, unfocused. Quickly, the Hylian was back to his feet, but the room and the positions of the Gerudo afforded him a moment to look around. His eyes darted back and forth as the creatures threw their bodies wildly at the girls.  
  
"They're not really worried about their lives, they're only trying to delay us," he whispered to himself. "Throwing enough wild blows at us to hold us off until someone or something bigger comes."  
  
"Link what are you doing?" Nacie screamed. "Help us, for the love of the goddesses!"  
  
"Fall back!" Link called.  
  
"What?" Nabooru asked.  
  
"Fall back, you heard me!" Link shouted again. "This battle will not be won, today. We were far too aggressive."  
  
As Link spoke, the ground suddenly began to shake violently. Nacie and Nabooru jumped back from their opponents, all of whom retreated away, as well. The enemy forces split and hurried away, disappearing as fast as they had appeared.  
  
The marble flooring crumbled, cracked, and finally exploded as two great dragons thrust up from the depths, fire and lava engulfing all in its wake, and completely separating the three thieves from the triforce.  
  
"Fall back, we're not going to gain anything else, here, today," Link hissed, his fists clenched tight.   
  
Wasting no time, the three turned and hurried through the main portal, clearing through just as the lava engulfed the flooring.  
  
  
**  
  
"Hurry, line up the rows!" Saria yelled, pointing along the row of cut deku sticks, sharpened and stuck in the ground at the forest's main entrance point. "Fall back into the forests and hide!"  
  
"These will hold the charging Goblins, but what of the witches?" Rook asked, his wide eyes looking about the trees as he tried to calm the crying baby. "Won't they simply come over the trees for us?"  
  
"We will do what we can at the Forest Temple, Rook," Saria answered as she moved the Kokiri along. "My first priority is to make sure the Kikiri aren't slaughtered by armies of Goblins and Zora. I don't know if even the Deku Tree can help us, this time."  
  
Snarls and growls filled the air as the first sign of the charging Goblins burst through the trees, charging forward from the ravine of the cut bridge.   
  
Saria let out a small scream, turning Rook and hurrying them along to the forest. The first goblins rushed forward, stepping on the trick twigs that had been laid out. Their own body weight forced the deku sticks up, and the creatures impaled themselves on the first line of defense.  
  
The Goblins rushed forward, climbing over their dead comrades, rushing after the screaming children and up the ledges into the forest. As soon as they set foot on the higher embankment over the village, roots suddenly began to snap up out of the ground all along the edge, knocking back the Goblins.  
  
Again and again, the goblins charged, and each time, the Deku Tree knocked them back with its roots.  
  
Isis screamed as Rook hurried along slowly through the forest, following the screaming Kokiri. The Goron turned one last corner, his eyes watching as cold air came from a pile of large boulders just as a Goblin stepped in his path, knocking him back.  
  
The creature hissed, raising its large axe as it charged forward.  
  
"No!" Saria screamed, closing her eyes and extending her arms. "You'll not harm them!"  
  
A burst of green magic shot forth from Saria's hands, blasting the creature through the trunk of a tree, bringing the tree down into the forest.  
  
Rook hurried to his feet, turning to go, but stopped, noticing Saria wasn't right behind him. He turned quickly to see the young girl passed out on the grounds. The large Goron wasted no time picking her up and carrying her over his shoulder as he stumbled through the paths and across a large maze to the temple.  
  
The Kokiri children rushed in the door of the temple and hid within as Rook turned to see the valley before him. The Goblins had passed through the Deku Tree's defenses and were beginning to swarm through the forests.  
  
Rook set Saria down on the ground and gently shook her.   
  
"S-Saria?" he cried. "Saria, what do we do?"  
  
Saria blinked suddenly and, though exhausted, pulled herself up.  
  
"There is nothing more I can do, here," she whispered, tears forming at her eyes. "I've used all I had on one Goblin."  
  
"Then we are doomed," Rook shuddered, his eyes falling heavily to the ground.  
  
"No, my friend, we're not," Saria smiled, standing and brushing the side of the Goron's face. "The entire world has changed, has it not? Everything, everywhere is different. Everything, save this forest. Since Gannondorf's destruction, I have complete control, here. Even his revival cannot change that."  
  
"Wh-what do you mean, Saria?" Rook asked.  
  
Saria smiled and turned away from the Goron, stepping to the edges of the stairway leading up to the temple as the Goblin army swarmed through the maze, quickly entering the last leg of the forest.  
  
Saria raised her hands and closed her eyes as sparks of green magic began to flow up about her. "Spirits of the Forest, a plague has infected your ways. Protect the chosen and the innocent, and destroy those who would destroy you."  
  
The green sparks of magic suddenly began to shine all through the forests, slowing the Goblins as they looked about themselves. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Gigantic guardians began to grow out of the ground, hewing large spears as they slaughtered Goblins left and right. Vines, roots, tree limbs all snagged the creatures and yanked them into the darks of the forest, never to be seen again.   
  
Pools of water reached out and pulled the creatures to its depths as plants shot thorns through the tough armor and hides of the creatures.  
  
Boulders were plucked from the earth and thrown into the machines built to attack the temple, as wild animals thrust forward, attacking the creatures as though they were possessed.  
  
Little more than a minute passed, and there was no longer any sign that the Goblins had ever stepped foot in the forest. All returned to it was as quickly as it had come.  
  
"Thank you, Spirits of the Forest," Saria whispered, her hand held hard against her heart.  
  
"Most impressive, indeed, little one," a cracking, harsh voice laughed.  
  
"Indeed, little one, most impressive!" another, similar voice laughed.  
  
Saria looked to the sky as two witches came down on their brooms, both laughing as they circled the temple.  
  
"Your magic is used, your tricks are played, little one," Kotake laughed.   
  
"Your forest friends are too tired, now, to save you, little one, " Koume added. "All is lost, save your life, and that we do not care to take, really."  
  
"Then...then why have you come?" Saria asked as she fell to her knees.  
  
"The baby," Kotake answered. "To us, she was promised. And to us, we wish her given."  
  
"The baby has no value, no worth to Rau!" Rook yelled. "What purpose do you have in taking her!"  
  
"Simple," Koume laughed. "There are great magics within the child! Great and powerful!"  
  
"Magics we wish to use," Kotake laughed.  
  
"You...you will never take her," Saria hissed, her face still lowered to the ground as sweat fell from her nose. "You will never touch her!"  
  
Saria screamed as loud as she could.  
  
As if to answer, the doorway to the temple suddenly seemed to light up. Blues, purples, whites all began emitting from the doorway. Kotake and Koume turned to the light just as hundreds of Fairies thrust out, slamming into the two witches, all of which fought as hard as their tiny bodies would allow.  
  
Kotake fell to the ground and was instantly swarmed over by the Fairies.  
  
Koume, however, raised her hand, and with great ease, trapped the Fairies in a ball of energy. Kotake screamed and stood, readying her blast of hot energy.  
  
"No, sister!" Koume screeched. "Not yet."  
  
"What?" Kotake asked.   
  
"Little one, I will save your precious Fairies, and exchange them for the girl," Koume laughed. "If you give her to us, I promise we will take good care of her, and we will save your little guardians here."  
  
Tears fell down Saria's cheeks as she looked up to the bundle of Fairies. The color of the creatures suddenly turned to a dull green color, as though they all were dying.  
  
"I...can't do...that," Saria whispered. "Rook, you have to run while we fight-"  
  
"No," Rook answered. "There...there is too much dying today. I will give you the baby."  
  
"Rook, no!" Saria cried.  
  
Rook handed the screaming child to Kotake and took the bundle of Fairies, freeing them at once. They immediately changed colors and hurried back in the temple to the Kokiri children.  
  
Kotake and Koume turned and flew off, cackling the whole way.  
  
"Rook..." Saria began, still on her knees. "Rook, what have you done?"  
  
"The...the only thing I could do, my friend," Rook answered, shaking his head and rubbing the tears with his arms. "I could not lose my friends. I could not let them kill you like this. Not when I could still save your lives."  
  
  
**  
  
"Hmmmmmm Nua-me nua-me," Rauro chanted carefully, desperately trying to pronounce every syllable perfectly. Sweat spread down his forehead as more chaos ensued behind his back.   
  
The screams and screeches of the dark forms echoed in the chamber as Impa clashed with the two, while also trying to hold off the Phantom Shadows. It was the scream of his friend that finally broke his concentration.  
  
Rauru turned to see a bloody Impa darting back and forth, a sword in one hand and a spear along her other arm. Each creature darted and sliced, now and again getting through her defenses and slowly cutting away at her.  
  
Rauru could not help but watch for a split second and admire the audacity of the woman. The stand she made now against three of the most powerful demons to walk the earth was the stuff legends were made of. It would not be enough, however.  
  
"No...no more!" Rauru shouted, lifting his arms and sending a wave of magic through the air, slamming the dark Link against the wall. "You shall not hurt my friend any longer!"  
  
"Rauru, don't be a fool!" Impa screamed, turning to the Priest. "Finish the spell! Make my sacrifice a worthy one!"  
  
"We are failing!" Rauru yelled. "The sword is useless without you to help! I will not let you sacrifice your life without trying to help you fight!"  
  
The Phantom shadows swung from the wall and slammed into the priest, knocking him back. Rauru raised his hand and stopped inches from the wall before turning and waving the creatures back through the walls, themselves.  
  
Impa brought her sword down and parried away Dark Link's attack and thrust her spear through him, a smile across her face.   
  
The creature laughed and stepped sideways from the spear, his body sliding around the spear and re-forming, unharmed.  
  
"You...you were right, Rauru," Impa said, falling to one knee. "We...we cannot win today."  
  
The dark form of Impa came up behind the real Impa and raised her spear. She laughed as she started to bring it down, but a whistling sound stopped her.  
  
An arrow shot through the air, splintering the spear in mid-air and knocking the dark Impa back.  
  
Nacie and Nabooru rushed through the stone frame of the doorway, the only thing left of that wall, and jumped in to attack the dark versions of Link and Impa as the real Impa fell to the ground, exhaustion over-taking her.  
  
"You can't die!" Nabooru shouted, dodging an attack from Dark Impa and slicing through the creature with her sword. "You have to pay me back for saving your life!"  
  
Nacie rolled under Dark Link's sword and thrust her down-turned dagger into his shield, then raised her hand and blasted the creature with flames. The creature screeched in agony and fell to the floor, burning.   
  
Nacie pulled the small diamond from her neck and threw it to Nabooru, who held it up and quickly used it to set Dark Impa on fire, as well.  
  
Nacie turned and kneeled before Impa, chanting a spell to heal the warrior as Nabooru hurried across the temple to try to help Rauru with the Phantom beasts.  
  
"Where did you come from?" Rauru asked. "Why aren't you in Rau's temple, and where is Link?"  
  
"The portals of the other dimension," Nabooru answered as she ducked an attack. "We failed our mission. Link was holding off the last attackers as we passed through the portal. He should be right behind us!"  
  
Rauru threw up a barrier about the two as the creature slammed its fists into them. The barrier held the first hit, but failed on the second. The third, knocked the two hard against the wall.  
  
Slowly, the creature began to hover towards the two as they lay on the floor.  
  
"Not all battles today will be lost," Link's voice called out. The Hylian reached down on the pedestal and pulled the sword from the stone, his body suddenly engulfed in bright blue energy. "Bare witness, phantom, to the changing of the tide."  
  
Link stepped down from the pedestal, raised his sword over his shoulder and charged forward, slicing the master sword through the creature, destroying it in one fell swoop.  
  
"By the Gods," Impa whispered as she was slowly helped up by Nacie. "I have never before witnessed such power."  
  
"Yes," Rauru said as he and Nabooru helped each other painfully up. "It would seem you have become even more powerful than even the Goddesses imagined, Hero of Time."  
  
Link smiled as he sheathed his sword. "I think things are starting to become clearer, now."  
**  
  
Gently, Zelda rubbed her soft hand down the long, furry nose of the large horse. Epona's grace and beauty was noticed by all who bared her witness, but Zelda always admired the horse's spirit. They had traveled relatively great distances, helping the remnants of the Army of Termina to Kakariko Village. Quick as the horse would ride, they made it through the demons and hordes of evil to the Forests to find Rook and Saria and bring them back safely.   
  
All this, and still, the horse's eyes would not leave the gates of the city, searching the horizon for any sign of Link.  
  
"I know how you feel," Zelda whispered, rubbing her nose with that of the horse. "I know how you feel."  
  
"There simply isn't going to be enough food or shelter for all my soldiers, Princess," Shiro hissed as he crunched through the snow. "We are not adequately suited for this weather, and we are very beaten. The morale of the men is atrocious, and you are standing near the gates that should be closed!"  
  
Zelda turned to the Knight, her bright blue eyes catching the morning sunrise. "All is lost, if those who sacrificed all they had do not return. Your army is great, and we are in great need of them, but the five who have not returned are worth two of your armies."  
  
"If we have a mask that can turn us to Gods, then why wait?" Shiro asked as he leaned against the wooden walls of the city. "Surely, we are powerful enough to destroy the armies of these lands."  
  
"Open your eyes, Knight," Ruto's voice came from behind as she stepped through the snow. Her wounds were bandaged, but she was still obviously sore. "I challenged Bishop with that mask and was beaten. The Goddesses, themselves, have challenged Rau, and were beaten! Do you honestly believe we can just don the mask and defeat the army with no trouble?"  
  
"My powers with the triforce, and Link's power with the Master Sword and mask should be enough to take down Rau," Zelda answered. "That would be enough for you to take down his main forces. That is, if they survived."  
  
"Survived?" Ruto asked. "What do you mean?"  
  
"I can usually sense Link," Zelda answered, her eyes dancing the horizon. "Even at great distances, I can feel him. Impa, and Rauru are no different, yet I can sense none of them. It's probable that I cannot sense them because they are in the chamber of time, but I still worry."  
  
"Phase one is complete, supposing they return successfully," Ruto said. "What's the next phase?"  
  
"As great as the Army of Termina is, it's still not enough," Zelda answered. "Our strongest weapons have to be used on their leader. We need enough of a force to stand up to their strongest beasts. We need to rally Hyrule, Gerudo, Goron, Kokiri, whatever we can pull together to stand against those forces."  
  
"It is only a matter of time before the monsters do an all-out assault on this town," Shiro answered. "We cannot delay for too long. The final battle, win or lose, must be soon."  
  
"Too soon, and we open ourselves to slaughter," Zelda replied. "Link, Ruto, Darunia, and I have all sent out dispatches to foreign lands besides your own. We cannot strike before tonight. No force will have had time to come. Hopefully, the Empire of Rune will send enough Knights to help us a little, for they are the closest after Termina."  
  
"Rune cannot be trusted...they may even join forces with-" Shiro started. "Hey, you're not listening to me!"  
  
"Can it, bug-boy," Ruto said, standing in front of the Captain.   
  
Zelda had already turned away and started down the stairs. "They-they're here."  
  
As if in response, Nabooru, Nacie, and Rauru walked around the corner, all badly beaten and bruised, and each helping one another to walk up the stairs. Zelda rushed down and hugged each, throwing her arms about them, as tears began to fall from all.  
  
"We...we failed, your highness," Nabooru started.  
  
"It doesn't matter," Zelda cried. "You're here. You're safe for now."  
  
Impa and Link came around the corner, next, the young Hylian helping the badly injured woman up the stairs.  
  
Zelda hurried down and hugged Impa, helping her into Ruto and Shiro's arms before turning to Link.   
  
As the others staggered away, Link's eyes finally raised from the ground to the soft blue eyes of the Hylian Princess. The Master sword gleamed in the morning light in his hands as he smiled a little.  
  
"Please...say something," she whispered.  
  
Link smiled. "It's begun."  
  
"What has?" Zelda asked.  
  
"Our chances at actually being together forever," he answered. "The beginning of the end is at hand."  
  
Zelda smiled as she threw her arms about him and met his lips with her own.  
**  
  
Next: The Siege of Kakiro Village 


End file.
